Claimant’s duty to disclose

Staines v Walsh ChD TLR 1 August

A claimant who has obtained a freezing order not only has a duty to honour his cross-undertaking in damages but also to disclose to the defendant any material change for the worse in his financial position. In the present case the claimant obtained a freezing order in respect of the defendant’s assets of £180,000 on the basis that he owned a flat with a value of £750,000 for which there was an outstanding mortgage of £350,000, leaving the claimant with around £400,000 in equity. However, three months after obtaining the order the claimant increased his mortgage to £630,000, leaving very little equity.