UK Supreme Court Blog

EDITORS: Dan Tench, Emma Cross, Zainab Hodgson, Francesca Knight, James Warshaw and Natalie Haefner (CMS)
Hugh Tomlinson KC, Matthew Ryder KC, Dévante Gravesande-Smith and Rebecca Khan (Matrix)

On appeal from: [2017] EWHC 1904 (Comm) and [2018] EWCA Civ 2590.

The High Court of England and Wales does not have jurisdiction to hear claims to recover sums paid under a settlement agreement relating to the loss of an insured vessel.

Inter alia, under EU law, a jurisdiction agreement will only bind a party if there is actual consensus between the parties that is clearly and precisely demonstrated. As an equitable assignee, the Bank did not take on the Owners’ obligations under the Policy. Not being a party to the Policy, it is not required to submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts in the action brought by the insurers.

The Supreme Court finds that the Insurers’ claims against the Bank are “matters relating to insurance” within the meaning of section 3 of the Brussels Regulation Recast (Regulation (EU) 1215/2012), which provides that an insurer may only bring proceedings in the courts of the Member State where the defendant is domiciled.