In-sure 

This month's edition looks at the effect of the credit crunch on the insurance industry, Competition Commission's provisional findings into PPI, the proposed deregulation of freight insurance and plans to ban use of surplus......

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Summer 2008

The latest legal news on Insurance and Reinsurance

European Commission to investigate use of Insurance Block Exemption Regulation;

Extension of policy in the light of knowledge of an insured's non-disclsoure amounted to affirmation;

Reinsurers entitled to rely on claims co-operation clause;

Literal meaning of policy wording upheld;

Court has jurisdiction to add a party to proceedings even where no claim can be asserted against it;

Affinity arrangements;

Broker acquisitions: possible conflict of interest;

Agent not entitled to conduct run-off. 

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Extracting Value For Smaller Captives 

Commutation, inwards or outwards, is probably the most frequently used tool in closing specific losses or contracts, complete insurance/reinsurance exposures and settling of disputes. The benefits of commutation are well known and understood. A commutation strategy can go a long way to closing an entire company, but finality can not always come from this alone. One such case is Mariner Reinsurance Company Limited (“Mariner”).

Reinsurance E-Alert

17 June 2008

"None of your business": English Court will not order disclosure of the defendant's insurance detail

West London Pipeline and Storage and ors v Total UK Ltd [2008] EWHC 1296

In a decision that will no doubt be welcomed by insurers, a first instance Court has held that in English legal proceedings defendants cannot be compelled to provide detail of their insurance cover to Claimants. This decision is in tune with the generally accepted principle that an insurance contract is a private matter between the insured and it insurer, although it runs contrary to a previous first instance decision on the same legal point: Harcourt v Griffin and ors [2007] (see previous http://www.runoffmarket.com/Reinsurance/Newsletter/Show-me-the-money-Defendants-ordered-to-disclose-insurance-cover-to-Claimant.html).

In-sure 

This month's edition looks at the new FSA Travel Insurance Regulation and the European Commission proposal for an EU-wide guarantee scheme. Also in this issue, the European Council's progress report on Solvency II, regulatory transparency......

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Reinsurance E-Alert

5 June 2008

Claims co-operation clauses: the duty to co-operate outlives rejection of the claim by Reinsurers

Lexington Insurance Company & ors v Multinacional De Seguros S.A. (2008)

This recent Commercial Court decision provides useful guidance on the application of claims co-operation clauses that operate as a condition precedent to reinsurers' liability. Amongst other things, the Court had to consider whether reinsurers can still require compliance with such a clause after claiming they are discharged from liability because of a breach of that clause.

As in the recent Court of Appeal decision in Kosmar Villa Holiday Plc v Trustees of Syndicate 1243 (2008) (see previous http://www.runoffmarket.com/Reinsurance/Newsletter/Insurer-can-take-over-the-conduct-of-a-claim-and-repudiate-liability.html), the Court took, in our view, the common sense decision and ruled that reinsurers should not be prevented from raising a number of defences whilst investigating the claim, and that it was in both parties' interest to encourage continued compliance with the co-operation clause during those investigations.