HIA Insurance Services Pty Limited T/as Home Owners Warranty v Kostas

HIA Insurance Services Pty Limited trading as Home Owners Warranty (the applicant) sought to strike out a Notice of Contention filed by the respondents, Kostas. The applicant contended that the Notice of Contention disclosed no reasonable basis in law and therefore constituted an abuse of the court's process. The matter came before Bell JA.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the respondents' Notice of Contention was so lacking in legal merit that it should be struck out as an abuse of process. This required an assessment of whether there was any reasonably arguable legal basis for the grounds raised in the Notice of Contention.

Bell JA dismissed the applicant's notice of motion. The court found that the Notice of Contention did not lack a reasonable basis in law, and therefore did not constitute an abuse of process warranting its being struck out.