The High Court has allowed the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland to amend its claim against Matthew Wales in proceedings over two loans, while leaving the underlying dispute and the bank’s application for judgment unresolved.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons ruled on 15 March 2021 that the proposed amendments were needed to set out how the claimed debt and interest had been calculated. The application followed a 2019 Supreme Court judgment requiring lenders using the summary summons procedure to provide particulars of how a debt was calculated, including whether it included surcharges, penalties or interest.
The proceedings began in 2013, when ICS Building Society sought €620,781.84 plus interest. The bank later replaced ICS as plaintiff following a statutory transfer and a High Court order in November 2020. The bank now seeks judgment for €159,035.74 plus interest, but the court said the original and proposed amended summons did not reflect credits for the sale proceeds of two properties that secured the loans.
In affidavits, the bank said net proceeds of €845,150 from the sale of a Clonskeagh property were applied to one loan account in May 2013, and €477,176.34 from the sale of another property were applied to the second account in July 2014. Wales disputes the bank’s treatment of the proceeds. Among his arguments is that he did not accept liability for any shortfall after the sales and that the bank tacitly agreed he would not be liable. Those are his contentions, not findings made in this ruling.
The judge said the proposed changes were minor and mainly concerned the basis for calculating interest. He rejected the argument that allowing the amendments would cause prejudice, including an objection to changing the interest calculation date from 2 August 2013 to 31 July 2013. He said the defendant’s objections about the merits of the claim, the property sales and earlier possession proceedings belonged at a hearing on the bank’s application for judgment, not at the amendment stage.
The order grants leave to amend the pleadings in line with the draft exhibited to the bank’s November 2020 affidavit. It does not determine the amount owed, the disputed allocation of sale proceeds, or whether the bank can obtain judgment. Wales has a separate, unresolved motion to dismiss for want of prosecution or inordinate and inexcusable delay. The judge said the ruling addressed delay only in bringing the amendment application and expressed no view on delay in the proceedings generally.
The judge’s provisional view was that Wales should receive the costs of the amendment motion because the need to amend arose from shortcomings in the original pleading. The bank was given two weeks to notify the defendant if it sought a different costs order and to file submissions. The matter was listed for 13 April 2021 for directions on the outstanding motions.