Continuing duty of care

In HIH Casualty & General Insurance Ltd v JLT Risk Solutions Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ 710 the Court of Appeal has upheld the controversial decision of Langley J at first instance, [2006] Lloyd’s Rep IR 493 (discussed in the August 2006 issue of Insurance Law Monthly), holding that a broker might in exceptional circumstances owe a duty of care to his client not just when placing the risk and making the claim, but during the currency of the policy as well. Langley J further held that if the client is an insurer for whom the broker has placed reinsurance, it does not matter that the broker may have put himself into a position where his duties to the reinsured and to the direct assured are brought into conflict, a conclusion upheld in robust terms on appeal. The Court of Appeal has also upheld Langley J’s ultimate conclusion that the breach of duty on the facts had not caused any loss so that there was no liability.