The High Court dismissed an appeal by an insurance company seeking to set aside its joinder as a third party in a personal injuries action brought by an employee against their employer following a workplace accident. The insurance company had argued that the employer failed to comply with a contractual time limit for arbitration and that there were delays in serving the third-party notice. The court found there was no manifest basis to conclude, at this stage, that the employer’s indemnity claim was bound to fail, noting unresolved legal and factual questions and the lack of prejudice from the delay. The original Circuit Court order refusing to set aside the third-party notice was affirmed.
third-party proceedings – personal injuries action – workplace accident – indemnity under insurance policy – timeliness of notice – arbitration clause – Procedural delay – Circuit Court Rules (CCR) – Order 7 CCR – Order 16 RSC – Civil Liability Act 1961 – section 27 Civil Liability Act – setting aside third-party notice – manifestly bound to fail (summary striking out) – prejudice – costs order