Insurance Law Monthly

In Atta v HDI Global Specialty SE [2023] EWHC 2028 (KB) Jacobs J discussed the coverage of a product liability policy where cavity wall insulation installed by the assured caused damage to a house.

In London International Exhibition Centre plc v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc and Others [2023] EWHC 1481 (Comm) Jacobs J heard a series of six expedited test cases on claims under business interruption covers for Covid-19 losses. The policies were much the same and raised a common issue on causation, although there were other matters for determination.

In Polladio Holdings Ltd v New India Assurance Co Ltd [2023] NZHC 1147 Wylie J in the New Zealand High Court discussed the operation of two key exclusions in a property policy: one for rust, and the other for "marring". There were also questions as to the honesty of the claim.

In Fletcher Construction Co Ltd v Chubb Insurance New Zealand Ltd [2023] NZHC 943 the New Zealand High Court was asked to construe the words of a Third-Party Liability Policy in relation to a construction project. Two issues were under consideration: did an insuring clause cover pure contractual liability; and did an exclusion operate to remove the insurers' liability for loss arising from damage to the contract works before they had been handed over to the employer? This was a claim for summary judgment, and so no definitive conclusions could be reached in the absence of evidence of the factual matrix, but the judge's view on both issues was very clear.