The meaning of ‘accidental’

The June 2005 issue of Insurance Law Monthly discussed the decision of Wilkie J in Hawley v Luminar Leisure plc [2005] EWHC 5 (QB), the learned judge there holding that, for the purposes of a liability policy providing cover against liability for ‘accidents’, whether or not there has been an accident is a question to be looked at from the point of view of the assured and not from the point of view of the victim or the person whose conduct gave rise to the assured’s liability. That analysis has been approved by the Court of Appeal on appeal in Hawley v Luminar Leisure plc [2006] EWCA Civ 18.