The High Court granted the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland summary judgment for €1 million against Maureen Curran over a personal guarantee she signed in 2008 for liabilities of XL Fuels Group.
Mr Justice Brian J. McGovern delivered the judgment on 21 December 2015. The application concerned the second defendant only. The bank had already obtained judgment for €2,266,323.28 against Michael Curran on 9 November 2015, after he did not contest its application.
The bank said the company had defaulted on loan facilities and sought the €1 million principal limit under Mrs Curran’s guarantee. She argued that it was unenforceable because of undue influence, an unconscionable bargain and non est factum, a defence that a person signed a document believing it to be essentially different from what it was.
Mrs Curran said she was a 73-year-old widow living alone when she signed the guarantee at home, and that a bank official told her she did not need a solicitor. The bank disputed that account. For the summary judgment application, the judge said he could not resolve the dispute on affidavit and proceeded on the assumption that she would establish it. He also noted that a solicitor had advised her around the same period against giving a personal guarantee, advice she did not follow.
The judge considered documentary evidence showing Mrs Curran had been a director and company secretary of XL Fuels Group, signed company filings and facility letters, jointly borrowed €1.7 million with her son Joseph to finance a garage, showroom and vehicle test centre, and owned the property from which the company operated. The guarantee warned that it covered present or future company debts up to €1 million and advised her to obtain independent legal advice. She also signed a certificate stating that she understood the liability and did not wish to obtain such advice.
The court concluded that the evidence did not support the pleaded defences. It found no credible evidence of undue influence or an unconscionable bargain, and rejected the non est factum defence. The judge said Mrs Curran had not shown a bona fide, credible or arguable defence sufficient to send the claim to a plenary hearing.
The court therefore entered summary judgment for the bank in the sum claimed. The judgment does not state an additional award of interest, fees or costs in its concluding order.