Our Christopher Foo, Chong Juen Quan and Emeline Khoo succeeded today in opposing an application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court.

The Plaintiff had sought leave to appeal against a judgment of the Court of Appeal affirming a decision of the High Court which struck out the Plaintiff’s claim on the basis that he was statutorily time-barred.

The Plaintiff commenced action in the High Court against our client, a life insurance company, for Total and Permanent Disability benefits under several policies after our client had rejected his claim.  The primary issue before the High Court and the Court of Appeal was when the 6-year limitation period began to run.

Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal agreed with our submissions that the Plaintiff’s cause of action accrued on the date of his submission of his claim for Total and Permanent Disability benefits to the insurer and not when the insurer rejected his claim.

The Federal Court did not see it fit to grant the Plaintiff’s application as it was of the view that the questions posed by the Plaintiff did not meet the threshold of Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. In the circumstances, the decision of the Court of Appeal on this issue stands.