Marine insurance: accidental damage and causation

In Sheehan v Lloyd’s Names Munich Re Syndicate Ltd [2017] FCA 1340 the assured under a marine policy suffered total loss of an engine after the oil pressure had dropped but the assured failed to respond to an alarm. The questions were whether the loss was accidental and, if so, whether it was excluded from insurance cover by reason of a defect in design.

Sheehan : the facts