11 March 2005

The Court of Appeal yesterday handed down an important decision on the issue of what constitutes knowledge of a "loss" for the purpose of notification under a claims control clause, upholding the judgment at first instance of Aikens J in the Commercial Court.

16 February 2005

The Court of Appeal has taken a pragmatic approach in considering the respective roles of administrators and reinsurers in handling claims arising under an asbestos liability policy and their respective rights to recover the costs and expenses involved.  In the Judgment handed down on 11 February 2005, the Court of Appeal also considered the "rights of the parties" in The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 within this context.

Background

The administrators of a company, T&N, appealed against the preliminary issues determined in proceedings arising from the handling of personal injury claims made against T&N arising from exposure to asbestos.  The reinsurers of T&N's asbestos liability policy cross-appealed.