The High Court has ordered Centric Health Primary Care Limited to disclose the name and address of its insurer to a plaintiff whose clinical negligence trial was due to begin within weeks.
In a ruling delivered on 7 November 2025, Mr Justice Paul Coffey rejected the plaintiff's argument that section 21 of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 gave her a direct right to pursue Centric Health's insurer.
Centric Health operates more than 70 GP clinics in Ireland and is an incorporated body with turnover above the €3 million threshold used in the legislation's definition of a consumer. The court held that its insurance policy was therefore not a consumer insurance contract and fell outside section 21.
That provision allows a third party, in certain circumstances, to pursue an insurer directly where an insured person has died, cannot be found, is insolvent or where a court considers it just and equitable. Mr Justice Coffey held that the provision applies only within the consumer insurance framework of the 2019 Act.
However, the judge said the plaintiff's circumstances required a practical response. Her life expectancy had been estimated at 12 months from March 2025 and her trial was scheduled for 25 November 2025.
Her legal team wanted to ensure that, if she obtained judgment against Centric Health, enforcement could be pursued during her lifetime. Although Centric Health undertook to seek recovery from its insurer if it lost the case, it would not assure the court that either it or the insurer would satisfy any judgment.
The court therefore directed Centric Health to provide its insurer's name and address by close of business that day. This would allow the plaintiff to prepare proceedings under section 62 of the Civil Liability Act 1961 if such action became necessary after judgment.
The underlying clinical negligence claim itself remained to be tried.