First Central Insurance Management Ltd v Singleton [2019] NIMaster 10 (12 December 2019)

First Central Insurance Management Ltd v Singleton [2019] NIMaster 10 (12 December 2019)

The defendant has raised factual issues regarding whether he exercised reasonable care in disclosing his convictions and whether the insurer would have acted differently if notified. These issues provide an arguable defence, and thus the default judgment must be set aside to allow the matter to be tried.

Citation
[2019] NIMaster 10
Parties
Plaintiff: First Central Insurance Management Limited; Defendant: William Singleton
Jurisdiction
Northern Ireland
Judgment Date
12 December 2019
Procedural Posture
Application to Set Aside Default Judgment / Interlocutory Application Before Master
Outcome
Default judgment set aside; defendant permitted to defend the action.
Legal Topics
Default Judgment, Setting Aside Judgment, Non Disclosure, Misrepresentation, Consumer Insurance (disclosure and Representations) Act 2012
Insurance Law Civil Procedure Default Judgment Setting Aside Judgment Non Disclosure Misrepresentation Consumer Insurance (disclosure and Representations) Act 2012

Case Brief

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Parties

First Central Insurance Management Limited

Plaintiff

William Singleton

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Application to Set Aside Default Judgment / Interlocutory Application Before Master

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the defendant has an arguable defence to the insurer's claim to avoid the policy for non-disclosure of material fact
  2. 2 Whether the defendant exercised reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012
  3. 3 Whether the default judgment should be set aside

Ratio Decidendi

The defendant has raised factual issues regarding whether he exercised reasonable care in disclosing his convictions and whether the insurer would have acted differently if notified. These issues provide an arguable defence, and thus the default judgment must be set aside to allow the matter to be tried.

Court Disposition

Default judgment set aside; defendant permitted to defend the action.

Orders

  • Default judgment entered on 7 July 2017 is set aside.
  • Defendant is granted leave to defend the action.