At a hearing before Mr Justice Jay on 14 May 2019, Nick represented the Claimants (‘Domestic & General’) against five defendants and successfully obtained interim injunctive relief, based on the economic torts of (a) causing loss by unlawful means and (b) unlawful means conspiracy. Domestic & General is a provider of home appliance cover to approximately one in three households in the UK.
The injunction restrains the perpetration of a deceitful cold-calling campaign, that misleads customers into paying for insurance on domestic appliances, when they already hold such cover. Interim undertakings were previously provided by four of the Defendants at a hearing before Mrs Justice Thornton on 10 April (at which Nick also acted), together with orders for pre-action disclosure (’10 April Order’).
The application before Mr Justice Jay concerned applications for orders to (a) join an additional defendant and obtain injunctive relief against him, (b) make a pre-action disclosure provision in the 10 April Order subject to penal notice and a debarring order, given the Defendants prior breach of the same, (c) ancillary disclosure arising out of the 10 April Order.
In an ex tempore judgment, the Judge granted the application in all respects, finding that the basis for interim injunctive relief was made out in respect of both torts relied upon. The case is of interest because it represents an unusual example of the application of the well-known American Cyanamid principles to these torts, that are increasingly being relied upon in claims to obtain redress against fraudsters and other deliberate wrongdoers.
The case was reported on Lawtel on 17 May 2019.
