This site uses cookies.

Christine Bangs v FM Conway Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 1461 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

16/12/24. Date of judgment: 6 November 2024

This appeal was unusual because it is a rare example of the Court of Appeal intervening to reverse a decision to set aside the strike out of the claim.

Jacobs J had set aside a strike out on account of the Particulars of Claim not being served in time and also made an order extending time for service. The judge had relied on an admission allegedly made by the Defendant, FM Conway, but since withdrawn and a combination of other factors that he held demonstrated the Claimant’s case was “very strong”. The Court of Appeal disagreed.

Facts

Ms Bangs, the Claimant and Respondent to the appeal, brought a claim alleging that street works undertaken on behalf of Westminster City Council had caused severe vibration, noise and disturbance and had damaged underground watertight vaults below her property including the formation of cracking.

Procedural history

Loss adjusters appointed by Westminster’s contractors, FM Conway, appeared to concede breach of duty in early correspondence when the claim was estimated to be around £30,000 but this was later revised to around £200,000. The loss adjustors then raised issues with the lack of evidence supporting the claim and withdrew the admission. It was accepted that FM Conway was entitled to...

Image cc flickr.com/photos/oatsy40/7816182682/

Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...

All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.