In circumstances where there is more than one Defendant/ Respondent, the Letter of Claim is even more important. In these circumstances the Letter of Claim becomes an "O’Byrne Letter", which addresses the issue of liability as between the Respondents. The O’Byrne letter is similar to the Letter of Claim but must also deal with the following issues:-
* claim that the accident was caused by the wrongdoing of one or other potential Respondent but that the Claimant is unable to say which was is responsible;
* call upon the recipient to admit liability within a certain specific time period;
* call upon the recipient to make proposals to compensate the Claimant;
* warn the recipient that if there is no admission of liability and / or proposals to compensate the Claimant, an application will be made to PIAB for an assessment of damages against all the named potential Respondents;
* warn the recipient that if it becomes necessary to issue court proceedings against all of the Respondents / Defendants the O’Byrne letter will be used to fix the unsuccessful Defendant with costs payable to the Defendants who are found to have no liability;
* request an Indemnity from the recipient in relation to the costs of the unnecessary or aborted court proceedings against any of the potential Respondents who will not participate in the PIAB assessment or do not accept the amount assessed;
* warn the recipient that in the absence of the Indemnity outlined above the Claimant will seek to recoup these costs in separate court proceedings and that the O’Byrne letter will be used to fix the wrongdoer with the costs of such proceedings;
The question arises as to whether a court will punish a Claimant/Plaintiff in terms of costs, which it is entitled to do under the 2004 Act, for the Claimant’s failure to serve a Letter of Claim or an appropriate O’Byrne Letter. It is fair to say, most Claimants would not even know that such a letter exists without the advice of a solicitor.