The court was asked whether an action alleging that the settlement of an earlier personal injuries action was obtained by fraud should be struck out on the grounds that the issues are res judicata or that the action is an abuse of process because the defendant in that earlier action had alleged that the claimant was exaggerating his injuries for gain.
Held: The settlement gave rise to no estoppel of any kind. The action was not an abuse of process.
However, Moore-Bick LJ said: ‘If it is to succeed in its action Zurich will have to persuade the court that it was induced to agree to the settlement by fraud on the part of Mr. Hayward, a task that may not prove easy, given the fact that it already knew enough to justify the service of a defence in the terms indicated earlier.’
Judges:
Maurice Kay VP, Smith, Moore-Bick LJJ
Citations:
[2011] EWCA Civ 641, [2011] CP Rep 39
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
See Also – Hayward v Zurich Insurance Company Plc CA 31-Mar-2015
The claimant sought damages alleging his back had been injured at work. The insurers accepted liability but said that the claimant had exaggerated the extent of his injury. The claim was settled, but later a neighbour of the claimants said that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury, Litigation Practice
Updated: 13 September 2022; Ref: scu.440225
