To plead or not to plead: when to plead fundamental dishonesty?

Does a defendant need to formally raise an allegation of fundamental dishonesty ('FD') in its pleaded case to obtain a finding of FD at trial? Since the Court of Appeal considered the issue in Howlett v (1) Davies (2) Ageas Insurance Limited and another [2017] EWCA Civ 1696 many defendant practitioners have proceeded on the basis that a formal pleading is unnecessary provided that the claimant has had fair notice of a challenge to his or her honesty and an opportunity to deal with it. The case of Pinkus v Direct line [2018] EWHC 1671 reinforced the above view. However three recent cases discussed below have revisited the issue and suggest a formal pleading may now be desirable in certain circumstances.

You can read Vaughan Jacob's full post on our Commercial, Construction and International Arbitration Blog here.