Beth Zheng
Beth is an associate in the Global Commercial Disputes Group in London, having joined the firm as a trainee in September 2023. Prior to Reed Smith, she worked in the employment litigation team of an international law firm.
Her practice involves advising clients on complex commercial litigation matters, with recent experience in the financial services, luxury goods, music, and shipping sectors.
Beth’s contributions to the firm’s pro bono initiatives include working for Kids in Need of Defense and the Queen Mary Legal Advice Clinic, as well as serving as project co-champion of the Schools Consent Project.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2025
Experience
- Reed Smith (2023 - Present)
Qualifications
- LLB (2021)
- LLM (2023)
Education
- Durham University (2021)
- College of Legal Practice (2023)
1 Contributions by Beth Zheng
PRACTICE NOTES
Allocation and Attachment of Losses in Insurance and Reinsurance under English law: policy periods, aggregation, indivisible damage, attachment points, recoveries, and key case law
Allocation
In the context of insurance and reinsurance, ‘allocation’ is the process of identifying which policy covers a loss, or a share of a loss. In many claims this point never surfaces. If a driver wrecks their car, the motor insurance policy in force on the date of the accident will respond. Yet, in the smaller number of cases where it does arise, the consequences can be substantial for a (re)insurer's inwards liability and the availability of its outwards reinsurance.
Consider a business that employs a worker for 40 years. During that period the worker is exposed to asbestos and, after retirement, develops mesothelioma and dies. The estate sues the former employer. The company had workers’ compensation/employers’ liability insurance throughout the employee’s service, but which policy, if any, should respond to the claim?
Or take an insurer that covers a power station which later burns down. The insurer has prudently purchased facultative reinsurance covering the particular risk and treaty reinsurance spanning all of its power station risks, but which responds and in what order?
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Insurance & Reinsurance
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