The claimants, insurers, relied upon an exclusive jurisdiction clause contained in a binder given to a Greek broker. It set England and Wales for any dispute. The insurers had terminated the binder alleging fraudulent conduct by the broker. A declaration and damages were sought, but proceedings had not served when the broker sued the insurers in Greece for ‘clientele compensation’ pursuant to statute and ‘financial and moral damages’. The insurers then amended their English claim to claim damages for breach of the exclusive jurisdiction clause and served the claim (as so amended) on the broker in Greece; the broker then sought a stay of the English proceedings.
Held: A stay was refused. The Greek claims were based on tort and statute while the English claims were for breach of the contract in the binder.
Judges:
Beatson J
Citations:
[2008] EWHC 1842 (Comm), [2009] Lloyd’s Rep IR 365
Links:
Statutes:
Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001
Cited by:
Cited – In re The Alexandros T SC 6-Nov-2013
The parties had disputed insurance claims after the foundering of the Alexandros T. After allegations of misbehaviour by the underwriters, the parties had settled the claims in a Tomlin Order. Five years later, however, the shipowners began . .
Cited – Starlight Shipping Co v Allianz Marine and Aviation Versicherungs Ag and Others CA 20-Dec-2012
The Alexander T, owned by the appellant and insured by the respondents was a total loss. The insurers resisted payment, the appellant came to allege improperly, and the parties had settled the claim on full payment under a Tomlin Order. The owners . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insurance, Jurisdiction, European
Updated: 18 July 2022; Ref: scu.271239