Insurance & Reinsurance Cases

• Coverage dispute following commercial property fire centred on issues of fair presentation of risk, policy wording and waiver, and associated claim against broker

• Coverage dispute, following a hotel fire, involving issues of material non-disclosure at the inception and renewal stages, breach of condition during the currency of the policy, and fraudulent means during the claim process

• Subrogated claim for fire damage in residential block against supplier of micro circuit breaker following product recall, defended on grounds of unlawful installation 

• Claim under buildings policy following two separate fires, resisted for failure to adequately secure and monitor the derelict unoccupied building prior to the fires

• Unlawful team lift between competing broker groups leading to claims of breaches of duties and conspiracy and quantum of circa £10 million

• Subrogated claim by insurer of poultry farm owner against government department and culling contractor for property damage caused during an emergency culling of chickens infected with Avian flu

• Subrogated claims against facilities management company and specialist supplier of electrical energy-saving controls following an electrical fire at a substantial tenanted commercial office block

• Claim by estate of former senior clerk of a barristers’ chambers’ facilities company for failure to provide death-in-service benefits as a result of changing insurer during the senior clerk’s absence from work and while undergoing cancer treatment

• Claims by litigation funding business against litigation expenses insurer in respect of costs of proceedings in various US jurisdictions

• Subrogated claim against insurer of insolvent installer of wood-burning stove following thatched roof fire

• Claim by local authority against associated companies of a dissolved SPV under the Building Safety Act 2022 and against the SPV’s insurers under the 2010 Act for losses arising from a Legionella outbreak

• Claim against insurance broker for failure to advise client on basis of calculation of reinstatement cost of house with sub-structure and on principle of averaging in the event of under-insurance

• Claim against main contractor, roofing sub-contractor’s insurer (under the 2010 Act) and hot works sub-sub-contractor following roof fire in office block and failure to remove plant on roof so as to allow continuous run for new asphalt application

• Claim under the 2010 Act by estate against insurance company of contractor who caused the collapse of a property, involving issues of coverage and waiver

• Subrogated claim against main contractor and concreting sub-contractor following cracking in car-park slab, raising issues of workmanship and design of the concrete and its pouring

• Subrogated claim for flood damage by buildings insurer against installer of sprinkler system

• Claim against firm of solicitors in liquidation, covered by an insurer in liquidation and backed by the FSCS, for failure to obtain instructions from second beneficiary claimant

• Claim by vehicle owner against garage and assessing engineer for failure to declare damaged vehicle a write-off rather than repair, giving rise to consequences under financing and insurance arrangements

• D&O coverage dispute in respect of Grenfell Inquiry costs

• Claim against occupier of neighbouring restaurant premises for damage caused by spread of fire from fryer duct

• Claim against provider of employment law hotline and advice following successful unfair dismissal claims against claimant/client by TUPE-transferred security workers

• Claim under takeaway food policy for BI and kitchen equipment damage resisted for breach of condition regarding arrangement and maintenance of equipment, and insurable interest

• Claim by introducer for share of underwriting outcome on a volume of ATE policies, defended on the basis of a contractual bar to receiving the underwriting outcome from the issuing law firm

• Subrogated claim by residential building insurer against supplier of immersion heater following house fire

• Claim for insured and uninsured losses following fire in apartment block caused by poor electrical installation during development

• Claims and cross-claims under UKWA terms for duties levied and costs of bonded goods stolen with aid of warehouse employee

• Claim under Illegal Cultivation of Drugs clause for waste removal, cleaning and damage caused by cannabis production by a tenant within a commercial warehouse, involving insulation by 1,200 tonnes of textile waste 

• Claim for property damage defended on grounds of misrepresentation regarding business use of home in support of caravan site

• Claim by gas network operator for losses caused by civil engineers rupturing a gas main supply to 3,500 homes

• Claim against electrical engineers following a fire in an industrial oven caused by failure of temperature controllers

• Coverage dispute on Design & Construct policy regarding whether decisions taken on site to fill gaps in the architect’s designs and details should be regarded as workmanship or design

• Claim by householder for negligent renovation work by insurer, and third-party claim for negligent adjusting and supervision of renovation project

• Multi-party claim for fire damage by freeholder and leaseholders against main and sub-contractors employed by predecessors in title to convert a substantial property in Covent Garden into apartments

• Claim against broker for failure to advise on escalation clause in income protection policy

• Claim for minimum volume rights under insured legal services contract following sale of the insurer and termination of the agreement

• Claim by owner of laboratory against M&E contractor (and onward claims against two further parties) following malfunction of sprinkler system and damage to equipment

• Claim for negligence against life insurance company following misinformation about policy being in trust for ex-wife of deceased, including considerations of hypothetical exercise of trustees’ discretion and claims under the 1975 Act

• Claim against insurer for damage caused by subsidence to residential property

• Substantial claim under trade credit insurance following collapse of main contractor debtor of insured M&E sub-contractor, involving issues of account certification by administrator and alleged set-offs and counterclaims against primary account and their effect on the insured loss

• Dispute between medical expenses insurer and hospital about entitlement to claim for pathology tests and entitlement to claw back past payments, involving issues of estoppel, contractual existence and medical necessity

• Subrogated claim for flood damage caused by culvert overflow, by private landowner against downstream local authority landowner

• Claim for insured and uninsured losses against fencing contractor and power supplier following destruction of house by fire allegedly caused by electrical fault

• Claim by estate against quasi-partners of deceased for proceeds of life insurance placed to support options for share buy-back in the event of death

• Claim by householder against insured chimney sweep in respect of substantial fire damage resisted on the basis of causation

• Claims in respect of cross-border data protection following failure of UK claims management company to return or destroy data to non-UK insurer, pending resolution of counterclaims for failure to honour commercial agreements

• Claim by incapacitated insured under a private executive income protection plan policy, including issues as to degree and nature 
of incapacity and quantum

• Claim against loss adjusters for failure to accurately assess losses prior to a judgment obtained against the insured’s insurers

• Lloyd’s Market dispute concerning managing agency syndicate charges under a Turnkey TPSMA

• Dispute in respect of the marketing of insurance products 
in the lettings industry

• Dispute between ATE insurers and personal injury claims company over contractual duties in writing pre-Jackson policies

• Claims for property damage and business interruption by commercial end-user against, respectively, dealer, distributor and Italian manufacturer of trucks (and their respective insurers) following series of engine fires and product recall notices

• Claim by industrial producer of hydrogen peroxide for property damage and business interruption against insured contractor following allegedly negligent re-tubing works on a heat exchanger said to have resulted in the leak of a substantial volume of hydrogen peroxide

• Dispute between German insurer and UK insured for business interruption and property damage following suspicious fire

• Mediation in Jersey of an insurance claim in respect 
of a substantial residential property destroyed by fire while redevelopment plans were pending

• Claim against an insurance company by an FSA-authorised administrator of policies sold by the insurance company in respect of breaches of an outsourcing agreement entered into while the defendant was awaiting FSA authorisation

• Multiple professional negligence claims between UK bank and Irish insurer

• Various insured professional negligence claims

• Mediation involving the insurer of an IT supplier sued for breach of contract in supply and installation of system

• Dispute over the sale and purchase of an insurance broking company

• Recovery dispute between legal costs insurers and solicitors

Stuart has experience of litigating and advising on domestic 
and international insurance, reinsurance and retrocession treaty disputes. He has also acted on cases involving insured claims, working alongside insurers in defending claims and for and against insurers on coverage issues.

Examples include:



• Several disputes between IT suppliers and insurers over policy wording and coverage issues

• Claims by Lloyd’s Name against syndicate for negligent underwriting

• Dispute between parties to the Wellington Agreement over
run-off of asbestosis claims

• Arbitration proceedings between Swiss reinsurance company and Indonesian counterparty over terms of retrocession treaty

• Due diligence investigation of litigation issues prior to acquisition of insurance company

 

 

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