Lloyds Developments Limited v Accor S.A [2026] EWHC 232 (TCC)

The claimant needed the court's permission to serve its claim form on a French defendant out of the jurisdiction, and the claim form had to be served by June 2025. It had obtained an extension of time for service. The defendant challenged that extension and the court's jurisdiction.

Mr Justice Eyre found that the claimant had approached the matter on a false basis in an important respect and had delayed in seeking permission to serve out of the jurisdiction. That failure of disclosure was serious, and even if an extension had otherwise been warranted it would have been set aside. The extension granted earlier was set aside, so the claim form had been served out of time and the defendant was entitled to a declaration that the court had no jurisdiction to try the claim.

The case is a warning about candour when applying to extend time for service, particularly for service out of the jurisdiction. An order obtained on a false or incomplete basis is liable to be set aside, with the fatal consequence that the claim form is then out of time.

Mr Justice Eyre held at paragraph 65 that the extension "is, therefore, to be set aside".