The High Court has refused Victoria Polyakova permission to challenge a Midlands Circuit Court decision which dismissed her case against an insurance broker because it had been brought in the wrong court area.
Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty delivered judgment on 12 June 2026. Polyakova alleged that the Circuit Court judge was biased, acted in bad faith and reached a result inconsistent with an earlier case she had taken against insurer AXA.
The dispute arose after AXA declined to renew Polyakova's motor insurance in 2019. She later contacted brokers, including City Financial Marketing Group Limited, or CFM. An intended policy underwritten by AXA was subsequently cancelled.
Polyakova first sued AXA in Dublin Circuit Court for defamation and negligence. That case was dismissed in 2021. She later brought separate proceedings against CFM in Athlone District Court and, following dismissal there, appealed to the Midlands Circuit Court.
In July 2025, the Circuit Court dismissed the CFM case because the judge found that the relevant contract had been concluded in Dublin, where CFM had its principal place of business. The court therefore held that the Midlands Circuit lacked jurisdiction.
Polyakova argued in the High Court that this conflicted with the earlier AXA ruling and that the Circuit Court had wrongly treated separate corporate entities as linked for jurisdictional purposes.
Ms Justice Gearty rejected that characterisation. The evidence did not establish that corporate personality had been a material issue in either decision. The two cases involved different defendants and different dismissal arguments.
The High Court also rejected allegations of bias and bad faith. The judge said disagreement with a ruling does not establish partiality, and there was no evidence of dishonesty, corruption or improper interest on the Circuit Court judge's part.
Leave to seek judicial review was refused on all grounds. As Polyakova represented herself and the proposed respondent had not been put on notice, no costs issue arose.