REINSURANCE - THE APPLICABLE LAW

(Gan Insurance Co Ltd v Tai Ping Insurance Co Ltd [1999] Lloyd's Rep IR 229)

In Gan Insurance Co Ltd v Tai Ping Insurance Co Ltd [1999] Lloyd’s Rep IR 229 Mr Justice Cresswell held that a reinsurance dispute should be heard in England, and that the reinsurers were entitled to leave for service outside the jurisdiction in order to seek declarations of non-liability in England. This case has now been heard by the Court of Appeal, in May 1999 (forthcoming in [1999] Lloyd’s Rep IR) and the judgment of Mr Justice Cresswell has been upheld. The Court of Appeal gave somewhat lengthier consideration to the relationship between insurance and reinsurance where the latter incorporates the terms and conditions of the former, and in particular whether incorporation had any effect on the applicable law of the reinsurance agreement.