Liability insurance: aggregation

The law has, in the context of aggregation clauses, drawn a clear distinction between “events” (the what) and “original causes” (the why). To date most of the cases have concerned events and relatively few have involved the definition of originating cause. The Court of Appeal in Spire Healthcare Ltd v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc [2022] EWCA Civ 17, reversing the judgment of HHJ Pelling QC, [2021] Lloyd’s Rep IR 182, has confirmed the broad nature of the term and contains an excellent analysis of the latter.

Spire : the facts