Christine Bangs v FM Conway Limited & Anor
[2024] EWHC 494 (Comm)
Christine Bangs v FM Conway Limited
28 November 2024
[2024] EWCA Civ 1461
Court of Appeal
A homeowner sued a construction company for damage to her property. The homeowner's case was thrown out for missing a deadline. A judge then reinstated it, but a higher court overturned that decision. The higher court said the first judge shouldn't have looked at the merits of the homeowner's case when deciding whether to give her a second chance—it should only have focused on whether she missed a deadline. The lawsuit against the construction company is over.
Key Facts
- •Christine Bangs' basement flat suffered water ingress and cracking after road resurfacing work by FM Conway Ltd.
- •FM Conway initially admitted liability but later withdrew the admission.
- •Bangs' claim was struck out by Mr Justice Bright for failure to serve Particulars of Claim on time.
- •Bangs appealed to Mr Justice Jacobs, who set aside the strike-out order.
- •FM Conway appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Legal Principles
Denton principles for relief against sanctions.
Denton v T.H. White Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 906
Withdrawal of pre-action admissions.
CPR 14.1 (October 2023 version)
Relevance of merits in case management decisions.
Global Torch Ltd v Apex Global Management Ltd (No. 2) [2014] UKSC 64; R (Hysaj) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 1633
Categories of cases concerning sanctions for non-compliance.
FXF v English Karate Federation Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 891
Outcomes
Court of Appeal allowed FM Conway's appeal.
The judge wrongly considered the merits of Bangs' claim when granting relief from sanctions, as the merits were not sufficiently strong to meet the summary judgment test and no prior notice of this contention was given. The withdrawal of the admission of liability was properly done under the then-applicable rules.
Mr Justice Jacobs' order setting aside the strike-out was overturned.
The Court of Appeal found that the judge's consideration of the merits caused injustice to FM Conway, as they did not have a fair chance to present their case in response.
Mr Justice Bright's order striking out the claim was reinstated.
The Court of Appeal found that the judge had incorrectly applied the Denton principles by improperly weighing the merits of Bangs' case in favour of granting relief from sanctions.