What is the appropriate time period for a plaintiff to accept a formal offer to settle their claim?

And, in Tompkins v. Bruce [2012 BCSC 833] the time period was 25 days. In that particular case the judge – Curtis J. – confirms that the purpose behind the costs consequences of reasonable offers is to encourage settlement. As such, it is important that someone who is provided with a formal offer to settle be given sufficient time and information to assess the formal offer and decide whether or not it is reasonable to accept it. His Lordship also notes that, on occasion when one is in the throes of trial, there are a number of different factors to be considered in deciding whether an offer ought to have been accepted, including such things as the timing of the offer, for example, and, in one case the age of the plaintiff.