CH-2025-000032 - [2025] EWHC 2988 (Ch)

The respondent, Mr Mohamed Dewji (“Mr Dewji” or the “Respondent”), commenced proceedings against Prudential by Part 7 Claim Form received and issued in the County Court Business Centre Online Civil Money Claims on 31 July 2023.

The claim relates to a life assurance and critical illness policy known as the Flexible Critical Illness Plan (the “Policy” or the “Plan”) which was sold to him in 2000 by Prudential (then called Scottish Amicable International Assurance plc). (For convenience I refer to “Prudential” throughout). The claim (as amended) asserts breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligence and breach of various of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Conduct of Business Rules, giving rise, it is said, to statutory liability under Section 138D of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, in each case on the part of Prudential.

In very broad terms, the underlying dissatisfaction of Mr Dewji is identified as being that he was paying more for the Policy by way of premia and was entitled to less under the Policy as compared with other members of his family who had taken out similar policies. His claim was originally quantified as being just under £5,000 (leaving aside the costs of the Claim Form).

On 1 September 2023, Prudential issued an application to strike out, supported by a witness statement from Ms Michelle Cumming, a solicitor and legal director at M&G plc, the parent company of Prudential. The grounds for the application were essentially two, first, that the claim was time barred and/or (for that among other reasons) had no reasonable prospects of success and secondly, that it was inadequately pleaded and, in effect, (legally) embarrassing in the sense that its inadequacies were likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings.

By order dated 15 November 2023 the claim was transferred to the County Court at Central London.

On 5 January 2024, DJ Rippon allocated the claims to the small claims track and directed a hearing of the application with a 2 hour time estimate.

On 5 March 2024, the hearing was, by consent, re-listed. Later the date of the hearing was set as 24 April 2024.

On 23 April 2024, by consent, the hearing was adjourned to enable Mr Dewji to amend the Claim Form and file and serve fully pleaded Particulars of Claim.

On 13 May 2024 such documents were filed.

The amended Claim Form sought damages of more than £25,000 but less than £100,000 and contained brief details of the claim as follows

“The claim raises out of a Flexible Critical Illness Plan purchased by the Claimant from the Defendant which was incorrectly medically loaded, subsequently travel loaded in retrospect and excluded the Waiver of Premium Benefit in breach of the terms of the Plan, the Duty of Care owed to the Claimant and the FCA’s rules.”

The matter came before DJ Rippon in the County Court at Central London on 20 August 2024. He allocated the case to the multi-track and, as Prudential was by this time also seeking summary judgment but the application notice did not contain the formal requirements for such an application, gave permission for an amended application notice to be filed and served. That amended application notice was dated 17 September 2024 and was the application notice before the Judge.

In the meantime, on 2 September 2024, Mr Dewji signed re-amended particulars of claim. The relevant re-amendments were primarily to raise a case that s32 of the Limitation Act applied, either because of deliberate concealment of relevant facts by Prudential or because of mistake on his part.

On 24 January 2025 the matter came before the Judge. As I understand it, before him (and certainly before me) that part of the application based on the pleading being inadequate and, as I would put it, legally embarrassing, was not pursued.

After a full day’s hearing the Judge dismissed Prudential’s applications to strike out or, further or in the alternative, for summary judgment. Before considering his judgment it is necessary to consider the case and the evidence in a little more detail.