Marine insurance: meaning of “loss”

It is trite law that a marine policy – and indeed any other property policy – covers physical loss or damage but not economic loss. The issue before Sir Ross Cranston in Engelhart CTP (US) LLC v Lloyd’s Syndicate 1221 [2018] EWHC 900 (Comm) was whether the specific terms of the marine policy in that case operated to reverse the basic rule. The hearing was purely on the construction of the policy, so the case proceeded on the basis of assumed facts.

Engelhart : the facts