Premium Contractor Solution LLC v Ying Kang

Facts

Premium Contractor Solution LLC, a company established in Ohio in the United States, brought proceedings in the King's Bench Division against Mrs Ying Kang, a Chinese national domiciled in China who owns a property in Congresbury, Bristol which she bought in 2011 and which was let out between 2012 and 2019. The underlying dispute concerned the sale of allegedly counterfeit face masks during the Covid pandemic: Premium was sued in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by 3M Company over misrepresentations as to the identity of personal protective equipment, and in turn brought a third-party claim against Mrs Kang for an indemnity, alleging she had represented that the masks were authentic and that she was an authorised 3M distributor. Default judgment was entered against her in Ohio on 15 March 2022 and damages assessed at US$2,633,262.25 on 22 April 2022. Premium then obtained judgment in default here on 1 November 2023 in the sum of £2,156,000.32, followed by an interim and then a final charging order over the Bristol property on 20 May 2024, and on 20 November 2024 issued a Part 8 claim for an order for sale. Mrs Kang, who says she was in China throughout and discovered the posted papers only on 4 January 2025, applied on 25 March 2025 to set aside the default judgment, for reverse summary judgment, or alternatively to strike the claim out under CPR 3.4(2)(a).