Expert determination and grounds of challenge

In Connect Plus (M25) Ltd v Highways England Co Ltd [2016] EWHC 2614 (TCC) Coulson J held that the claimant’s challenge to an expert’s determination of a dispute between the parties had not been brought in breach of the contractually agreed dispute resolution procedure. The contract entitled the parties to refer ‘any matter comprised in the Dispute to the court for determination’ and the matters referred by the claimant to the court were held to be matters that fell within this definition. To the extent that the claimant’s challenge involved new claims or new matters which had not been referred to the expert, it was held that the defendant was not entitled to strike out these claims. At the very least the claimant remained entitled to raise any such new issue before the expert.