Arbitration Clause Effective Despite Action Against Insurer Clause : Trade Finance Solutions v. Equinox Global Limited (Take Two)

The Ontario Court of Appeal has released its decision confirming that where it is possible to give effect to a mandatory arbitration clause, the court will strive to do so.

As described in our earlier blog post, the plaintiff, a Toronto based company, commenced an action in Ontario against its insurers, Equinox Global Limited and Lloyd's Underwriters. The policy of insurance contained an arbitration clause with the seat of arbitration in London, England. The endorsements, which prevailed over the Policy to the extent of any conflict, contained a provision as follows:

In any action to enforce the obligations of the Underwriters they can be designated or named as "Lloyd's Underwriters" and such designation shall be binding on the Underwriters as if they had each been individually named as defendant. Service of such proceedings may validly be made upon the Attorney In Fact in Canada for Lloyd's Underwriters, whose address for such service is 1155 rue Metcalfe,