Relief From Sanctions: Too Little Too Late

Applications for relief from sanctions continue to trouble the courts, the latest judgment being given by the Court of Appeal in ELO Trustees Ltd v (1) Bonhams 1793 Ltd (2) HNW Lending Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 664. One of the take away points from this case concerns the need to make an application for RFS promptly. In this case, 18 days was considered too late.

Mr Elo, whose first name was "XXXX", had defaulted on a settlement agreement in relation to loans he had taken out. The defendants obtained judgment in default and proceeded to seize some rare cars under a writ of control. The claimant alleged that it owned the cars instead of Mr Elo and on 13 April 2022 successfully obtained an injunction preventing the defendants from selling the cars. The injunction order provided that the injunction would be discharged unless the claimant issued a claim form seeking a determination of the ownership of the cars by 14 April, served it by 20 April and filed and served evidence in