UK-based insurance firm to be sued over Irish case

High Court: TWO people and a company are entitled to sue a UK-based insurance broker here over an alleged failure to ensure …

High Court:TWO people and a company are entitled to sue a UK-based insurance broker here over an alleged failure to ensure they were indemnified when building work was being carried out on a house owned by them, a High Court judge has ruled.

Terry Coleman, Anita Coleman, and Agulhas Resources Incorporated own the house at Sorrento Terrace, in Dalkey, Co Dublin, where damage was allegedly caused to a neighbour’s chimney during renovation works in 2003/4. The neighbour sued them in 2005. Subsequently, they sued Offley Insurance Services Ltd, a firm of brokers with its registered office in the UK.

They claimed they got a policy through Offley to cover the building works. Offley had asked the High Court to strike out or set aside the proceedings on grounds that the Irish court had no jurisdiction to hear such actions. Yesterday, Mr Justice Michael Peart dismissed Offley’s application.