Warranty claim notification 'aware of the matter' (Nobahar-Cookson v The Hut Group)

Article summary

Dispute Resolution analysis: In a dispute concerning the interpretation of claim notification provisions in a warranty dispute, Lord Justice Briggs concluded that where there are ambiguities in an exclusion clause, they can properly be resolved by having recourse to the narrower of the available interpretations, if a linguistic, contextual and purposive analysis of the disputed clause does not resolve the issue with sufficient clarity. Although he reached the same end result, this reasoning was distinct from that of the trial judge who dismissed the application of any contra proferentem principle. On the facts, Briggs LJ considered the natural language of the clause provided no clear answer and he discounted both parties’ submissions on commerciality. He was, however, persuaded that the purposive intention of the clause was to prevent the buyer from keeping warranty claims ‘up his sleeve’. He considered that this conclusion was reinforced by such interpretation also being the narrower of the interpretations available to him in respect...