Policy defences and late payment: the position in Australia

The proper construction of section 54 of the Australian Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) came before the Court of Appeal of Western Australia in Maxwell v Highway Hauliers Pty Ltd [2013] WASCA 115. On appeal from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal approved Corboy J’s decision that the insurers (various Lloyd’s underwriters) are obliged to indemnify the assured the policy amount as well as the consequential losses that the assured suffered as a result of their wrongful denial of the claim. The case is discussed by Dr Ozlem Gurses of the University of Southampton.

Maxwell : t he facts and the policy