Irwin Mitchell has come under fire for the pricing of a personal injury case, after the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, said costs of almost £75,000 were disproportionate to a damages award of £12,750.

The case, Simcoe v Jacuzzi UK Group, saw plumber Adrian Simcoe bring a claim against Jacuzzi UK after suffering pain as a result of repetitive work assembling shower cubicles for the company.

Simcoe agreed to accept £12,750 in damages with claimant's costs of £74,000 subsequently agreed and paid to Irwin Mitchell.

In delivering his Civil Court of Appeal verdict, Neuberger (pictured) said: "Unless this is an exceptional case, the fact that, without even incurring the cost of a trial, it cost the claimant nearly six times as much to pursue the claim as it was actually worth suggests that something is out of kilter in at least some parts of the civil justice system," he continued.

Irwin Mitchell has defended its pricing policy, saying "delays and tactics" ramped up the cost of pursing plumber Adrian Simcoe's claim and prolonged it for three years.

"The defendants refused and dragged this case all the way to the door of the court, settling one working day before the trial was due to begin," the firm commented. "If [the defendants] had settled when we first offered them the chance, the fees would have been less than the amount received by the claimant."

Berrymans Lace Mawer, which defended Jacuzzi UK Group, commented: "Further to the Court of Appeal judgment in Simcoe v Jacuzzi UK Group, [we] are actively considering the implications of this judgment and our next steps with our client; which will remain confidential."

The case comes amid Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs, which include the abolition of the recoverability of success fees and associated costs in 'no win, no fee' conditional fee arrangements, with claimants to pay their lawyers' success fees instead.

In his concluding remarks, Lord Neuberger stated: "It is to be hoped that the changes which are in the process of being enacted and implemented in relation to civil costs and civil procedure will help ensure that costs become more proportionate."

Click here to read the full judgment.