Poole v Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Limited [2014] NSWSC 986

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Poole v Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Limited [2014] NSWSC 986 Hearing dates: 21/07/2014 Decision date: 21 July 2014 Jurisdiction: Equity Division - Commercial List Before: McDougall J Decision: Grant leave further to amend the Commercial List Response. Grant leave to administer limited interrogatories. Direct defendant to serve statement linking documents it proposes to tender to issues of fact that it contends those documents will prove. Catchwords: PROCEDURE - whether to allow amendments to commercial list response - whether prejudice to the plaintiff where effect of amendments is to include non-fraudulent non-disclosure as well as fraudulent non-disclosure

PROCEDURE - whether to grant leave to administer interrogatories - whether interrogatories must be "necessary" for leave to be granted - whether interrogatories would bring about the just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in dispute - whether leave to administer interrogatories in relation to information given in an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry ought be granted - Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW) s 37(3)

PROCEDURE - Application for order that defendant produce a narrative statement of facts showing how facts would be proved by documents in the court book - where such order is not a direction usually given - whether alternative course of annotating the commercial list response to refer to relevant documents ought be granted - where difficult for plaintiff to give proper consideration of whether to put on evidence in reply Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW) Cases Cited: Tooth and Company Ltd v Lane Cove Municipal Council (No 4) [1968] 2 NSWR 17 Sealby v Obelisk Securities Pty Ltd (SC of NSW, 18 April 1997, unreported; BC9701847) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Andrew John Poole (Plaintiff) Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Limited (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: AP Coleman SC / JE Curtin (Plaintiff) TM Mehigan (Defendant) Solicitors: Horton Rhodes (Plaintiff) Clyde & Co Australia (Defendant) File Number(s): 2013/336778