Postal service of a claim form on the defendants office during Covid-19 lockdown was a good reason to set aside judgment and grant relief from sanction.
Summary
The High Court held that postal service of a claim form on the defendants solicitor’s office during Covid-19 lockdown was a good reason to set aside judgment and grant relief from sanction.
Background
Stanley (S) instructed a solicitor to purse a claim against the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for a data protection breach.
The local authority had informed S’s solicitor that they did not accept service of documents by email, so the solicitor posted the claim form to the local authority’s offices on 25 March 2020. This was two days after the UK government put the country into ‘lockdown’ as a measure against the spread of Covid-19.
Judgment against the London Borough of Tower Hamlets was entered in default of a defence, as they did not receive the claim form.
The local authority applied to set aside the judgment under CPR 13.3. This sets out when a court may set aside a judgment.
The court's decision
Following the decision in Dexia Crediop SpA v Regione Piemonte (2014) EWCA Civ 1298, which held that applications to set aside default judgments are applications for relief from sanctions, the High Court had to consider whether the application met the test set out in Denton v TH White Ltd [1] EWCA Civ 906.
The test is set out at para 41 of Dexia Crediop SpA v Regione Pietmonte, as follows:
“Denton makes clear that any application for relief against sanctions involves considering:
(i) the seriousness and significance of the default
(ii) the reason for it, and
(iii) all the circumstances of the case.
At the third stage factors (a) and (b) in CPR r 3.9 are of particular, but not paramount, importance.”
The court found that Tower Hamlets’ failure to respond to S’s claim was a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and made a reference to CPR PD 51ZA (Extension of time limits and clarification of Practice Direction 51Y – Coronavirus), which provides:
“In so far as compatible with the proper administration of justice, the court will take into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic when considering applications for the extension of time for compliance with directions, the adjournment of hearings, and applications for relief from sanctions."
Hence, the court granted relief from sanctions and set aside the default judgment. Tower Hamlets was given 14 days to respond to the claim.