a. It is not currently disputed that the letter dated 8 January 2009 from the Defendant to the Claimant was sent within 14 days of service of the claim form, as required by rule 15.8 of the Rules of the DIFC Courts (the "RDC");

b. Pursuant to rule 15.1 of the RDC, a letter can be an admission for the purposes of Part 15 of the Rules; but

c. the letter itself does not constitute an admission. Rather it is an offer to settle the dispute between two parties. The offer to settle is said to be 'Subject to the terms of this letter' and therefore subject to fulfillment of various terms within the letter. Indeed, the letter provides that if the terms are met the defendant 'agrees to settle in full the Amount'. That is, that the settlement is conditional upon the Claimant observing the terms of the letter. One term is said to be that 'OIM acknowledges owing the Amount of the Claim' and whilst it might be considered that this amounts to an admission, it could equally be that such acknowledgment is a term of the agreement to settle, rather than an absolute admission. Due to the nature of the default relief that is being sought, it would not fulfill the Courts' overriding objectives to allow the application in these circumstances.