ORDERS EXTENDING TIME FOR SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM SET ASIDE: THE DUTIES OF THE APPLICANT WERE NOT COMPLIED WITH: THE CLAIMANT COMES TO GRIEF
If there is any application that should make a claimant’s lawyer extremely uncomfortable it is making a without notice application to extend time for service of the claim form. If you add to this an application (made late) for permission…
THE COURT WOULD NOT STRIKE OUT A CLAIM BECAUSE OF ERRORS IN THE RESPONSE PACK: “THE OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE IS NOT FURTHERED BY PARTIES SEEKING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNICAL BREACHES”
Here we look at a case where a claimant made amendments to the response pack because service was going to take place abroad. The response pack then contained errors in relation to the times by which the defendant should take…
CHANGES TO RULES OF ACCEPTING SERVICE BY EMAIL: SOME VERY MODEST PROPOSALS: (AND BYE BYE TO THE FAX MACHINE)
The current consultation by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee relates to important issues of service that have featured many times in the courts, and on this site. Here we look at the issues being considered relation to the automatic agreement…
NO RELIEF FOR CLAIMANTS WHO SERVED THE CLAIM FORM LATE: TAKING A POINT AS TO SERVICE IS NOT “PLAYING TECHNICAL GAMES”
It may be possible for a month to go by without a mis-service of the claim form issue arising in the courts, but it is not this month. We have here a case with the familiar litany of waiting to…
COURT OF APPEAL CONSIDER ISSUES OF KNOWLEDGE, SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM AND “LAST KNOWN ADDRESS”: THINGS DO NOT GO WELL FOR THE CLAIMANT
Problems occur when a claimant fails to take appropriate steps to ensure that the defendant is in fact living at the address where a claim form has served. This was the issue considered by the Court of Appeal today. The…
A SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM CASE WITH A TWIST IN THE TAIL: AND WHAT A TALE THIS IS…IT LEADS TO A LOT OF WASTED COSTS (AND A POTENTIAL WASTED COSTS ORDER)
Today we are looking at a case about a failure to serve the claim form properly. The claimant did not consider whether they knew, or had served, on the defendant’s “last known residence”. As a result a default judgment, order…
SERVICE OF INJUNCTIONS: THE COURT ALLOWS SERVICE BY EMAIL RATHER THAN PERSONAL SERVICE
Injunctions normally have to be served in person. Here we are looking at a short point as to when it is permissible to serve an injunction by email. THE CASE Chanel Ltd v Skeens [2025] EWHC 619 (KB)…
CLAIM WAS (ARGUABLY) ISSUED IN TIME WHEN IT ARRIVED AT THE COURT: LATE SERVICE OF THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM DOES NOT DEPRIVE THE COURT OF JURISDICTION
Today we are looking at a case that raises important issues. The judge decided that calling someone gay is not defamatory. However here we are not concerned with the substantive issues but two procedural issues raised in the case. Firstly…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: NO IMPLIED DUTY ON A CLAIMANT TO TAKE STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE DEFENDANT IS STILL AT THE LAST KNOWN ADDRESS
I am grateful to barrister Anthony Reddiford for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Truman in Aston -v- Tew & Alwyn Insurance Company Ltd [2025] EWCC 20 , a copy of which is available here. Aston -v-…
DEFENDANT’S POINT ON NON-SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM NOT ACCEPTED: THE CLAIMANT HAD TAKEN ALL REASONABLE STEPS
The judgment of Fordham J in Baz v General Dental Council [2025] EWHC 643 (Admin) contained an interesting issue in relation to service of the claim form. The defendant conceded that the claim form had been properly placed in the…
COURT WAS CORRECT TO REFUSE TO GRANT RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS WHO WAS IN DEFAULT (OH, AND THE PROCEEDINGS HAD NEVER BEEN SERVED PROPERLY ANYWAY…)
In Lumsden v Charles [2025] EWCC 7 HHJ Peter Marquand refused a claimant’s application for relief from sanctions. The claimant had issued Part 8 proceedings but failed to serve the witness evidence and particulars with the proceedings by the rules. …
EMAIL SERVICE ON SOLICITORS THAT HAD ACTED IN OTHER PROCEEDINGS WAS NOT GOOD SERVICE
In Kostakopoulou v University of Warwick & Ors [2025] EWHC 342 (KB) Mr Justice Bourne considered issues relating to service of the defendants by email. He held that, in the absence of express consent to accept proceedings by email in…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: THE MEANING OF “LAST KNOWN RESIDENCE” AND “REASONABLE STEPS” TO ASCERTAIN A CURRENT RESIDENCE
The question of service of the claim form and “last known residence” has featured already on this blog this year. There is another case on the issue in the judgment of Mr Justice Bryan in Agrofirma Oniks LLC & Anor…
SERVICE ON A SOLICITOR WAS NOT GOOD SERVICE: A PARTY DOES NOT NECESSARILY ACCEPT SOLICITOR SERVICE FOR ALL PURPOSES
In Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc & Anor [2025] EWHC 283 (Comm) Mrs Justice Cockerill found that an application had not been properly served. The applicant had served the respondent on solicitors who had acted for him in…
THE COURT SETS ASIDE AN ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: ACTION AGAINST THAT DEFENDANT DISMISSED
One of the issues considered by Mrs Justice Bacon in Vauxhall Motors Ltd & Ors v Denso Automotive UK Ltd & Ors [2025] EWHC 213 (Ch) was whether an order extending time for service of the claim form should be…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: THE CORRECT ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPE AND THE “LAST KNOWN RESIDENCE” CONSIDERED BY THE HIGH COURT
In Xenfin Fund 1 Trading Ltd v GFG Ltd & Ors [2025] EWHC 172 (Ch) Joanna Wicks KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) considered two issues relating to service of the claim form. Firstly whether a slightly wrong…
“DICING WITH PROCEDURAL DEATH” AND SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: TEN SIMPLE POINTS TO MAKE LIFE EASIER
Last year saw another – large – batch of cases relating to service of the claim form. Mistakes continue to be made and things have not changed much over the years. Below is a revised post first written ten years…
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE IN THE YEAR FOR A NEW CLAIM FORM CASE: COURT OF APPEAL OVERTURN ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR SERVICE
In Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities v Rogers [2024] EWCA Civ 1554 the Court of Appeal overturned a decision that granted a claimant an extension of time for service of the claim form. The case is…
ITS NOT TOO LATE IN THE YEAR FOR “CLAIM FORM” CASES: JUDGE ALLOWS APPEAL AND GRANTS CLAIMANT EXTENSION OF TIME TO SERVE THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM: CPR 3.9 & DENTON DID NOT APPLY
I am grateful to solicitor Chris Topping of Broudie Jackson Canter for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Bird in Brown -v- the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (5th December 2024). The judge allowed an appeal against the…
COURT OF APPEAL FIND THAT JUDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE GRANTED RELIEF FROM SANCTION FOLLOWING LATE SERVICE OF THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM
In the judgment today in Bangs v FM Conway Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1461 the Court of Appeal overturned a decision where the claimant had been given relief from sanctions against one defendant following late service of the Particulars of…
SERVICE AND CLAIM FORM ISSUES IN 2024: WEBINAR 19th NOVEMBER 2024
I have had enough cases for a webinar on service of the claim form since about February this year. Claim form issues have been a major part of the blog throughout 2024 (and there may be more to come…). This…
CALCULATION OF TIME UNDER THE CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES: A RECAP
The case we looked at yesterday Corfield v Howard [2024] EWHC 2727 (Comm) provides an important reminder of a basic principle of the computation of time. A hearing was taking place on a Monday. The skeleton arguments were ordered to be…
NOT A LATE CLAIM FORM CASE TODAY, BUT LATE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM LEAD TO THE ACTION BEING STRUCK OUT
As a change to the almost never ending issues relating to late service of the claim form we have a case about late service of the Particulars of Claim. In Joseph v McFaddens LLP [2024] EWHC 2447 (Ch) Deputy Master…
TO ALL THOSE WHO THINK THERE MAY BE TOO MANY CASES ABOUT SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM ON THIS BLOG: YOU MAY BE RIGHT BUT HERE’S ANOTHER ONE…
In ETM Contractors Ltd, R (On the Application Of) v Bristol City Council [2024] EWHC 2263 (Admin) refused the claimant’s applications for relief following late issue and lateservice of the claim form. The judgment contains a detailed exposition of why…
ANOTHER FAILED SERVICE OF CLAIM FORM CASE: FAILURE TO SERVE PROPERLY ON A PARTNERSHIP MEANS THE ACTION COMES TO GRIEF
In Goodfellow v Warren Boyes & Archer (A Firm) [2024] EWHC 2015 (KB)Master Thornett rejected an argument that a former partner in a solicitors’ practice had been validly served when proceedings were sent to the company that had purchased that…
A DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED TO SEEK TO AVOID SERVICE OF PROCEEDINGS: IT WON’T WIN YOU ANY HONOURS BUT IT IS NOT WRONG…
In Broom v Aguilar [2024] EWHC 1961 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews rejected an argument that a different costs order should be made because the defendant did not co-operate in relation to service of proceedings upon her. Seeking to avoid service…
THE CLAIMANT HAD NOT SERVED THE CLAIM FORM PROPERLY: ORDER FOR SERVICE BY ALTERNATIVE MEANS WAS NOT EFFECTIVE WHEN THE DEFENDANT WAS RESIDENT ABROAD
In Broom v Aguilar [2024] EWHC 1764 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) decided that a claim form had not been properly served when it was served at a time that the defendant was living abroad….
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM – ERRORS AND PROBLEMS 5: SERVING THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM LATE
This is the fifth time we have looked at the judgment in Occupiers of Samuel Garside House v Bellway Homes Ltd & Anor [2024] EWHC 1579 (KB). This time we look at another “trap for the unwary” – the Particulars of Claim were…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: ERRORS AND PROBLEMS 1: LEAVING SERVICE UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE AND THEN NOT SERVING PROPERLY (BY FAX OR DX)
NB AN APPEAL WAS ALLOWED IN THIS CASE SEE Bellway Homes Ltd v The Occupiers of Samuel Garside House [2025] EWCA Civ 1347 The judgment of Master Dagnall in Occupiers of Samuel Garside House v Bellway Homes Ltd & Anor…
A CLAIM FORM WAS NEVER SERVED PROPERLY AND THE ACTION WAS STRUCK OUT: A TRULY EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF FAILED SERVICE ON A FOREIGN DEFENDANT
I am grateful to barrister Feliks Kwiatkowski for sending me a copy of the judgment today of District Judge Lumb in Perisi -v- Secret Surgery Ltd & Dr Ahmed Eslaftawy, a copy of that judgment is available here Perisi v…
FIRST CLAIM FORM CASE OF 2024: CLAIMANT COMES TO GRIEF WHEN THE DEFENDANT WAS SERVED BY THE WRONG METHOD: NO RELIEF AVAILABLE
It took until the 4th January for the first case in relation to service of the claim form to come to light. In Chehaib v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Ors [2024] EWHC 2 (KB) Master Stevens dismissed…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM CASES: THE PAST 14 MONTHS: ANOTHER SEASON OF THE DREARY & UNLOVELY CROP OF PROCEDURAL SERVICE ISSUES: WEBINAR 5th FEBRUARY 2024
This year has seen a bumper number of reported cases on what Master McCloud has referred to as a “dry and unlovely crop of procedural service issues”. This webinar on the 5th February looks at the cases relating to the…
CLAIM FORM SERVED LATE: NO EXTENSION OF TIME GIVEN: PLANNING TO FAIL
In Telford And Wrekin Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Anor [2023] EWHC 2439 (Admin) Mr Justice Eyre held that a claim form had been served late. Further the claimant did not come within…
SERVICE OF PROCEEDINGS: SECTION 1140 OF THE COMPANIES ACT CAN BE USED TO SERVE A DIRECTOR RESIDENT ABROAD
In Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC v Shetty & Ors [2020] EWHC 3423 (Comm) [a case newly arrived on BAILII) Mr Justice Bryan held that s.1140 of the Companies Act 2006 can be used to serve proceedings on a director,…
AN ORDER FOR SERVICE BY EMAIL MADE: THERE IS GOOD REASON TO DO SO
In Cohen & Ors v O’Leary & Ors (Re Insolvency Act 1986) [2023] EWHC 1939 (Ch) Louise Hutton KC (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court), made an order that a defendant could be served by email. “As…
LATE SERVICE OF THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM: THE “TRAP FOR THE UNWARY” AND RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS
In Altiatech Ltd v Birmingham City Council [2023] EWHC 1371 (TCC) Mr Justice Waksman considered the position when a claimant served the Particulars of Claim late. The judgement refers to a specific rules in relation to procurement. However the point…
FAILURE TO SERVE A DEFENDANT PROPERLY AND ISSUING OUT OF TIME: HIGH COURT DECISION
In Muhammad v Daily The News International & Ors (Rev1) [2023] EWHC 674 (KB) Master Cook determined a number of procedural issues. Here we look at two: (1) the failure to serve on a defendant properly; (2) the question of…
AGREEING EXTENSIONS OF TIME FOR SERVICE: THE ESSENTIAL POINT THAT THEY MUST BE IN WRITING
An interesting issue about “agreements” is referred to in the judgment of Mr Justice Kerr in Clarion Housing Association Ltd v Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd [2023] EWHC 620 (TCC). I will be looking at the case in more detail later. …
SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS ON A PERSON IN A REFUGE: IMPORTANT GUIDANCE GIVEN BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE FAMILY DIVISION
In P (Service on Parent in a Refuge) [2023] EWHC 471 (Fam) Sir Andrew McFarlane considered the difficulties when documents had to be served on someone who resided in a woman’s refuge. Guidance was given in relation to the steps…
SERVICE ON A SOLICITOR WAS NOT DEFECTIVE: WHAT IS MEANT BY A “PLACE OF BUSINESS”?
In Ellison Road Ltd v Mian (t/a HKH Kenwright & Cox Solicitors) & Anor [2023] EWHC 375 (Ch) Master Brightwell rejected a defendant’s argument that he had not been properly served at his “place of business”. The case shows the…
THE CLAIMANT HAD SIX WEEKS TO ISSUE AND SERVE THE CLAIM FORM AND WAS ONE DAY LATE: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED
In Halton Borough Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing And Communities [2023] EWHC 293 (Admin) HHJ Stephen Davies (sitting as a High Court Judge) refused a claimant’s application for relief from sanctions. This was a case where…
COURT REFUSES CLAIMANT’S APPLICATION FOR RETROSPECTIVE EXTENSION OF TIME TO SERVE THE CLAIM FORM:CLAIMANT’S ARGUMENTS THAT CPR 3.9 APPLIED FAILED TO FLY
Regular readers may be concerned that we have got through to the second week of February of the year and we have not yet had a claims form case. (There are several in the pipeline.) I am grateful to barrister…
HAVE THE DEFENDANTS’ SOLICITORS STATED THAT THEY WILL ACCEPT SERVICE? ANOTHER TRICKY CLAIM FORM ISSUE
In Motorola Solutions, Inc & Anor v Hytera Communications Corporation Ltd & Ors [2022] EWHC 2887 (Comm) Mr Justice Picken considered an issue relating to valid service. A firm of solicitors, that stated it would accept service of proceedings, argued…
CASES ON SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM IN 2022: WHAT LITIGATORS CAN, AND MUST LEARN FROM THEM: WEBINAR 14th OCTOBER 2022
2022 has seen some significant decisions in relation to service of the claim form, with many claimants coming to grief due to basic errors made when serving, or attempting to serve. This webinar “One Day Out” but still too late:…
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED WHEN PARTICULARS OF CLAIM WERE SERVED ONE DAY LATE
There were complicated factors involved in the judgment of Deputy Master Marsh in Croke & Anor v National Westminster Bank Plc & Ors [2022] EWHC 1367 (Ch), however the action failed because the claimant was one day late in serving…
PERSONAL SERVICE EFFECTIVE WHEN DOCUMENTS PUT THROUGH THE DOOR OF A LETTERBOX: THE FOCUS IS ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE RECIPIENT
In Field v Del Vecchio [2022] EWHC 1117 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court judge) considered whether committal proceedings had been properly served. The papers had been put through a letterbox in a flat when the defendant…
SERVICE BY EMAIL WAS NOT GOOD SERVICE: A CLAIMANT NEEDS A SPECIFIC STATEMENT THAT SERVICE WILL BE ACCEPTED: APPLICATION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME REFUSED
In Karanja, R (On the Application Of) v University of the West of Scotland [2022] EWHC 1520 (Admin) Michael Ford QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, found that a claim form had not been served when it was…
COURT REFUSES RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS WHEN PARTICULARS OF CLAIM ARE SERVED OUT OF TIME: THE DANGERS OF LIVING IN THE “TWILIGHT ZONE” (AND OF LEAVING SERVICE UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE)
In Croke & Anor v National Westminster Bank Plc & Ors [2022] EWHC 1367 (Ch) Deputy Master Marsh refused the claimants’ application for relief from sanctions in a case where the Particulars of Claim were served one day late. It…
THE BURDEN IS ON THE SERVING PARTY TO SHOW A DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PROPERLY SERVED: SERVICE ON A RESPONDENT RESIDENT IN FRANCE HAD NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED: APPLICATION AGAINST THAT PARTY DISMISSED
In Camberley Group & Ors v Foster & Ors [2022] EWHC 1309 (QB) Richard Hermer QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, dismissed an application for disclosure from a non-party on the grounds that the claimant failed to establish…
COURT REFUSES RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION IN RELATION TO SERVICE OF INJUNCTION: THERE WAS NO GOOD REASON AND A PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED
We are now looking at the second aspect of the judgment of Mr Justice Nicklin in MBR Acres td & Ors v Maher & Anor [2022] EWHC 1123 (QB). This the claimants’ unsuccessful application for an order that there be…
You must be logged in to post a comment.