Insurers must pay costs of coming off record
Susan Levingstone v Arthur O'Leary, Aidan Kenny and
Paddy Kelly [2019] IEHC 550 (High Court, Barrett J, 17 July
2019)
A recent decision of the High Court provides some insight as to
the extent to which an insurer may be liable to pay costs when it
instructs its solicitors to come off record for an insured in legal
proceedings, on the basis that they are refusing to provide
indemnity/cover in respect of the proceedings.
Background
LK Shields applied for an order to come off record for Mr.
O'Leary, the first named defendant, in circumstances where
Liberty Insurance, Mr. O'Leary's insurer, had refused to
provide indemnity/cover as a result of the failure by him to
respond to correspondence from LK Shields about the case.