Sanctions as alternative

Price v Price (t/a Poppyland Headwear) (CA TLR 28 July)

The claimant worked for his wife, the defendant, as a shop assistant in her hat shop when he was said to have suffered an accident on 5 May 1998. The claim form was served on 14 April 2001, without any accompanying particulars of claim, medical report or schedule of loss. The CPR requires service of particulars within 14 days of service of the claim form. Fours years and three months after the initial claim, the claimant had served an application for an extension of time to serve the particulars of claim accompanied by a witness statement and a new medical report from a second specialist, together with a schedule of damages, unexpectedly revealing a claim for £548,170. The deputy district judge granted the claimant an extension of time in which to serve particulars of claim, but the circuit judge allowed an appeal by the defendant and struck out the claim.