The High Court has dismissed an application by Donald and Anna McIntyre to challenge arbitration awards in their insurance dispute with Allianz plc. Ms Justice Laffoy refused to extend the time for bringing the challenge because the applicants did not have a good arguable case on the merits.
The applicants had asked the court to remove the arbitrator, set aside his liability and costs awards, and appoint a replacement. At the hearing, they did not pursue their alternative claim that the arbitrator had failed to proceed with reasonable dispatch. Their challenge argued that the liability award lacked adequate reasons and that the arbitrator was biased.
The arbitration concerned the applicants’ claim under an insurance policy covering their family home in County Offaly and its contents. They alleged that Allianz mishandled water damage and delayed repairs. Allianz denied wrongdoing. The arbitrator awarded €108,000 for reinstatement costs, temporary accommodation and professional fees, but rejected other claimed losses, including damage they attributed to the first floor and ceilings. He also awarded Allianz costs of the arbitration after 8 February 2010 and costs of the award, citing the applicants’ rejection of Allianz’s €120,000 offer. Each side was left to bear its own costs relating to earlier High Court proceedings.
The applicants said the arbitrator had agreed to give a reasoned decision. The court found that, read fairly and as a whole, the award explained why the reinstatement claim was assessed at €108,000, including why some alleged damage was excluded and why certain fittings could be removed and reinstated. The court acknowledged that the arbitrator gave little explanation for rejecting the applicants’ claims for breach of contract, negligence and loss of amenity. It concluded, however, that the award and the claim submissions made the basis of those decisions sufficiently clear. The court also found no basis in the applicants’ pleadings or written closing submissions for the pre-award interest they had sought.
The bias allegation concerned the arbitrator and Allianz witness Kevin Clabby, who both belonged to Lough Ree Yacht Club. The applicants alleged they were friends; both denied any friendship or relationship. The court said the applicants had not cross-examined either man and that an account attributed to a witness who did not attend court was hearsay. It refused the applicants’ request to adjourn so she could be called. On the evidence before it, the court found no good arguable case that a fully informed, right-minded person would see a real likelihood of bias.
The court therefore refused the requested extension under Order 56, rule 4 and dismissed the application. It did not set aside either arbitration award.