Welcome to the brand new edition of out Litigation Know How brief!
Prepared by our Litigation & Dispute Resolution team, the autumn 2019 edition covers a broad range of topics, including:
- Unexplained Wealth Orders
- Shorter Trials and Flexible Trials Schemes
- Pre-action Protocol for claims
We hope you enjoy this edition of the brief!
Click here to read the full brief.
Featured articles are listed below.
“Houston, we have a problem”
When it comes to notifying hitherto unforeseen problems to insurers under the terms of relevant insurance policies, a rumbling legal issue over the years, is to what extent is a general notification of a problem sufficient to cover for indemnity purposes the subsequent ascertainment of detailed defects, or negligence, or to cover what may become to be seen as a plethora of third party liability claims over a lengthy subsequent period of time.
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“Rocket Docket” Justice
Following the successful pilot between 2015 and 2017, the Business Court in England and Wales have now embedded in the High Court procedures a couple of shorter and more flexible litigation
procedures, aiming to simplify the court and trial preparation processes and to bring cases to a swifter trial and judgment.
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“That’s not what we meant” – rectification of contracts
The Court of Appeal has recently clarified the legal test for claims in rectification on the basis of common mistake in the case of FSHC Group Holdings Limited v. GLAS Trust Corporation Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 1361. Rectification is an equitable remedy through which the Courts can correct the written terms of a contract to reflect the parties’ contractual intention. The amended document will then take effect as amended from the time it was first made.
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Insurers: Please pay, no more delay
For many businesses, and individuals, the fact that an insurance policy claim is being sought can be stressful and distressing enough, but where for example significant property damage or business interruption or other “first party” losses have been suffered, timely receipt of insurance monies may also be business critical.
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Pre-action protocol for debt claims against an individual: Are you complying?
The Pre-action Protocol for claims in respect of monies owed to a business from an individual (including sole traders) was amended late 2017 with the aim to encourage early communication and subsequent settlement between parties thereby dispensing with the need to commence legal proceedings.
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Reprising and reminding the impact of the Insurance Act 2015 on business insurances
The Insurance Act 2015 came into force on 12 August 2016, introducing major changes to the law governing insurance in the UK and overturning over 100 years of insurance law. Here is a checklist reminder for businesses and their insurance brokers when reviewing and renewing insurances under that new regime.
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Unexplained Wealth Orders
UWOs were only recently introduced by the Criminal Finances Act 2017 as new investigative orders and are governed by sections 362A to 362T of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”). UWOs are a mechanism available to enforcement authorities like the National Crime Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Financial Conduct authority, the Serious Fraud Office or the Director of Public Prosecutions, to apply to the High Court to obtain information from respondents about the source of funds prior to any application for recovery of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime.
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