Global claims – when are they allowed?

This is a Scottish case but its findings are useful when considering whether and in what circumstances global claims for loss and expense will be allowed. The court will allow global claims where despite the best efforts of the Claimant it is not possible to identify causal links between each cause of delay and disruption and the consequences of those.

In the case proof that an event played a part in causing the global loss was undermined the failure to prove that event was one for which Laing was responsible, thus defeating the logic of the global claim. Lord MacFadyan said that advancing a global claim for loss and expense was a "risky enterprise". In order to succeed with a global claim all the events which contributed to causing the global loss must be events for which the other party is responsible. Thus, if any material contribution to the causation of the global loss was made by something for which the other party bears no legal responsibility then the global claim must fail. The courts will, however, have a look at causation with "common sense" and may be able to establish causal links between individual losses and events and allow a claim to succeed on those even if the global claim is rejected.