Public liability arbitration clause no bar on claim

A clause in a public liability insurance policy requiring the insured to seek arbitration within nine months of a dispute arising on the insurer’s liability did not operate to bar an insured person’s claim before he had any cause of action to bring a claim. The Court of Appeal so held allowing appeals by the first claimants and the second claimants from a decision in the Technology and Construction Court finding as a preliminary issue that the claimants were barred by general condition 16 of their insurance contract from proceeding against the defendants.