In a claim for payment of a debt in respect of the provision of services, the Court of Appeal has held that time started to run from the date the work was done, not from the contractually agreed deadline for payment. While the agreed time for payment was a procedural bar to the creditor seeking … Read more

The High Court has dismissed a claim by the assignee of an investment fund against a financial advisory firm (and associated parties) for losses arising out of alleged fraudulent misrepresentations made in relation to the financial position and prospects of a business which had induced the investment fund to subscribe for £11 million in loan … Read more

A recent decision in the High Court has given useful guidance on the interpretation of a contractual time-bar clause: Arab Lawyers Networks Company v Thomson Reuters (Professional) UK Limited [2021] EWHC 1728 (Comm). The clause prevented either party from bringing a claim more than one year after “the basis for the claim becomes known to … Read more

The Supreme Court has unanimously held that where a cause of action accrues at midnight (a “midnight deadline case”) the following day will count towards the calculation of the limitation period for commencing proceedings: Matthew v Sedman [2021] UKSC 19. The judgment provides an important clarification for parties calculating limitation periods in cases where accrual … Read more

The Court of Appeal has found that a defendant creditor could not rely on a limitation defence to a borrower’s claim that its non-disclosure of a very high rate of commission rendered the relationship “unfair” within the meaning of s.140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, as the borrower could establish deliberate concealment to postpone … Read more

The High Court has struck out certain of the claims brought against G4S under section 90A Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), in a judgment which emphasises the risks inherent in issuing complex group litigation shortly before the expiry of an arguable limitation period: Various Claimants v G4S plc [2021] EWHC 524 (Ch). The decision brings … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that parties seeking to introduce a new claim after the expiry of the relevant limitation period cannot rely on previously struck out pleadings in order to demonstrate that the new claim arose out of substantially the same facts: Libyan Investment Authority v King [2020] EWCA Civ 1690. CPR 17.4(2) … Read more

In the latest decision in the long-running Franked Investment Income (“FII”) Group Litigation, the Supreme Court has held that, for a claim to recover money paid under a mistake of law, the statutory limitation period begins to run when a claimant could with reasonable diligence have discovered the mistake, in the sense of recognising that … Read more