Insurance Law Monthly

The Legal Expenses Directive, Council Directive 87/344/EEC, confers upon the assured under a legal expenses insurance policy the right to appoint an independent lawyer. Massar v DAS Nederlandse Rechtsbijstand Verzekeringsmaatschappij NV Case C-460/14, a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, discusses the scope of the Directive and the types of proceedings and inquiries that give rise to the right conferred by the Directive.

The decision of Hargrave J (Melbourne Commercial Court) in Hird v Chubb Insurance Co of Australia Ltd [2016] VSC 174 is one on the interpretation of the representation and defence costs provisions of a directors’ and officers’ liability policy. The court refused to follow US cases involving similar wordings. The drafting of the policy is quite specific, but the judgment demonstrates the sorts of issues that arise where there is a preliminary investigation into a director’s conduct and how this particular form of wording dealt with them.

In Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) SE v Western Trading Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 1003 the Court of Appeal had to consider: (a) when it is appropriate to grant a declaration in favour of an insured claiming the costs of reinstatement where no reinstatement had been carried out prior to trial and there was doubt over the intention and ability of the insured to carry out reinstatement; and (b) whether an insurer could rely on a condition requiring works of reinstatement to be been carried out with reasonable despatch where the insurer had refused to confirm indemnity. The decision is considered by Miles Harris of 4 New Square.

The Supreme Court, in Moreno v Motor Insurers’ Bureau [2016] UKSC 52, a leapfrog appeal directly from the ruling of Gilbart J, [2015] Lloyd’s Rep IR 535, has held that the right of a UK victim of an accident elsewhere in the EU to claim compensation from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau is one to recover the measure of damages available in the country where the accident occurred and not the English measure of damages.