Christine Bangs v FM Conway Limited & Anor
[2024] EWHC 494 (Comm)
Free Leisure Ltd (t/a "Cirque le Soir") v Peidl and Company Ltd (now dissolved) & Anor
3 April 2023
[2023] EWHC 792 (Comm)
High Court
A nightclub sued a handyman and his insurance company for a fire. The lawsuit was too late, and the initial paperwork was too vague, so the judge threw the case out.
Key Facts
- •Free Leisure Ltd (Cirque Le Soir) suffered a fire in its nightclub in December 2015.
- •The fire was allegedly caused by negligent work performed by Peidl and Company Ltd (First Defendant), installing Christmas decorations.
- •QBE UK Limited (Second Defendant) insured Peidl and Company Ltd.
- •The claim against the First and Second Defendants was issued on 29 November 2021, outside the six-year limitation period.
- •The Claim Form contained minimal details of the claim.
- •The Second Defendant applied to strike out the claim or for summary judgment.
- •The Claimant sought to amend the Claim Form to add particulars.
Legal Principles
A claim form must contain a concise statement of the nature of the claim and specify the remedy sought (CPR 16.2(1)).
CPR 16.2(1)
The court may consider other documents, such as a Letter of Claim or Particulars of Claim, in interpreting a Claim Form, but only under limited circumstances and such documents cannot introduce new causes of action.
Libyan Investment Authority v King [2020] EWCA Civ 1690, Evans v Cig Mon Cymru Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 390, Travis Perkins Trading Co Ltd v Caerphilly County Borough Council 2014 EWHC 1498 (TCC), Muduroglu v Stephenson Harwood 2017 EWHC 3926 (TCC)
A claim brought after the limitation period has expired will be time-barred unless an exception applies. Under the Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010, an insurer can rely on any defence available to the insured.
Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010, MacGillivray on Insurance Law (15th Ed.) at 28-030
Leave to amend a claim form is not granted if it introduces new causes of action that are time-barred.
Muduroglu v Stephenson Harwood 2017 EWHC 3926 (TCC)
Outcomes
The claim was struck out.
The Claim Form was defective for lacking sufficient detail. The Letter of Claim and Particulars of Claim could not cure the defect as they were served after the limitation period expired and introduced new causes of action. The court lacked jurisdiction to grant leave to amend the Claim Form to add new claims because these were time-barred.