Woolwich Building Society v Taylor and Another
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lindsay J. |
| Judgment Date | 28 April 1994 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Date | 28 April 1994 |
Chancery Division
Before Mr Justice Lindsay
Isolvency - duty to give information - dependent on liability
There was no duty under section 2 of the Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930 on either the liquidator of a company in voluntary liquidation or its insurers to give information to a person claiming that the company was under a liability to him until that liability had been established by action, arbitration or agreement.
Mr Justice Lindsay so held in the Chancery Division in a reserved judgment when dismissing the motion of Woolwich Building Society, treated as the trial of its action, against Mr I Q Taylor and Sun Alliance and London Insurance plc, for an order that the defendants and each of them
(i) give to the plaintiff all information within their knowledge or power as to (a) whether Stumpbrook Continuation Ltd was insured by the second defendant against liability to the plaintiff in respect of the claim made by it against Stumpbrook and (b) whether the second defendant was entitled to avoid certain policies as it had by letter dated October 4, 1993 purported to do; and
ii) allow all contracts of insurance, receipts for premiums and other relevant documents in their respective possession or power to be inspected by or on behalf of the plaintiff and copies thereof to be taken.
Section 2 of the 1930 Act provides: "(1) In the event of … a resolution for a voluntary winding-up being passed with respect to any company … it shall be the duty of the … liquidator … to give at the request of any person claiming that the … company … is under a liability to him such information as may reasonably be required by him for the purpose of ascertaining whether any rights have been transferred to and vested in him by this Act and for the purpose of enforcing such rights, if any…
"(2) If the information given to any person in pursuance of subsection (1) … discloses reasonable ground for supposing that there have or may have been transferred to him under this Act rights against any particular insurer, that insurer shall be subject to the same duty as is imposed by the said subsection on the persons therein mentioned."
Mr Jules Sher, QC and Mr Gabriel Fadipe for the plaintiff; Mr Christopher Symons, QC, for the second defendants; the first defendant did not appear and was not represented.
MR JUSTICE LINDSAY said that the plaintiff, which claimed in other proceedings yet to be...
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