The High Court has granted reverse summary judgment in favour of a defendant bank on the basis that the so-called Quincecare duty of care did not operate in the context of an authorised push payment (APP) fraud, where a third party fraudster tricked the bank’s customer willingly to instruct the bank to transfer large sums out of her account, which were then misappropriated: Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2021] EWHC 10 (Comm).
The judgment is the latest in a line of judgments concerning the parameters of the Quincecare duty. It confirms that existing authorities limit the Quincecare duty to protect corporate customers or unincorporated associations such as partnerships (i.e. where the instruction to the bank has been given by a trusted agent of the customer). The decision confirms that the Quincecare duty does not currently extend to individual customers. On the facts of the present case, the court was not persuaded to extend the Quincecare duty to protect an individual customer in the context of an APP fraud, saying to do so would be contrary to the principles underpinning the duty.
For more information see this post on our Banking Litigation Notes blog.
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