BLUEBON LTD V AGEAS (UK) LTD AND OTHERS

[2017] EWHC 3301 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Bryan, 15 December 2017

Insurance (property) - Policy on hotel - Electrical Installation Inspection Warranty - Whether clause amounting to "true warranty" or suspensory provision - Whether inspection required only from date of inception of policy

Bluebon purchased the Star and Garter Hotel in Linlithgow West Lothian in 2007. In 2003 there had been an inspection of the hotel's electrical installation, and the electrician issued a certificate on 16 September 2003 recommending that there should be a further inspection not more than 10 years later. The hotel was insured under a policy effective from 3 December 2009. The policy contained a series of warranties. The most important was entitled "Electrical Installation Inspection Warranty", under which: "It is warranted that the electrical installation be inspected and tested every five years by a contractor approved by the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting ... and that any defects be remedied forthwith in accordance with the Regulations of the Institute of Electrical Engineers". The hotel was destroyed by fire on 15 October 2010, giving rise to a total claim of £1,750,000 for buildings, contents and business interruption. There was no evidence that the electrical installation had been inspected and tested within five years running back from the inception date of the policy.