Legal News

Which? reported that 39% of participants in a poll of 4,719 Britons in November 2024 said insurers were slow to process claims made within the previous two years. The findings sit within the influential consumer group’s continuing push on both insurance pricing and the way claims are managed. Jenny Ross, editor of Which? Money, noted that people only learn how their insurer performs once they need to claim, and that hold-ups can intensify an already stressful experience. Ross also said it is vital for the regulator to oversee firms’ claim-handling standards, and to properly take enforcement action against any that are judged to be underperforming......

The Association of British Insurers ( ABI) The Association of British Insurers ( ABI) argued that rules for repairing cladding should give equal weight to property protection and the robustness and resilience of buildings, alongside safeguarding lives. Following the 2017 Grenfell Tower blaze in London, in which 72 people lost their lives, the government has allocated £5.1bn to strip dangerous cladding from the outside of high-rise residential buildings......

Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights—6 February 2025 In this issue: Ukraine conflict Cases and decisions Types of insurance UK regulation European regulation Cases tracker Dates for your diary New and updated content Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Ukraine conflict Insurers covering aircraft lessors with jets marooned in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine told a London court on 3 February 2025 that fellow insurers providing war‑risks cover for those lessors should pay out for the allegedly lost aircraft. See: All‑ Risk insurers demand war‑risk payouts for stranded jets A group of all‑risks insurers told the High Court on 4 February 2025 that losses linked to planes stranded in Russia following the invasion should fall to war‑risks insurers, as they result from Russian...

Dominic Ayo Williams, 37, received a serious crime prevention order at Inner London Crown Court on 3 February 2025, following sentencing for a series of fraudulent claims, City of London Police confirmed on 4 February 2025. Formerly known as Ayodele Oladuti, Williams lodged 25 sham travel and home insurance claims with two insurers, according to City Police. He also attempted to conceal an unspent fraud conviction when one insurer challenged him over a claim. Dan Weller, a detective constable with City Police's insurance fraud enforcement department, said Williams exploited travel disruption during the coronavirus pandemic and ‘systematically made bogus insurance claims’ to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds......

Justice Stephen Males in the Court of Appeal held that the claim that Marsh failed to secure appropriate motor insurance for vehicles hired overseas by Norman Hay plc staff and group companies could not be summarily rejected. The judgment observes: for a court to assess whether a breach of duty caused loss, it must be told what, specifically, the defendant ought to have done. Males J indicated that further detail is required about the brief given to Marsh, the obligations it assumed, and whether a competent broker in Marsh’s position should have offered different advice on the availability of non-owned motor cover. Norman Hay contends that Marsh, whether negligently or in breach of contract, failed to appreciate that the chemical group’s senior employees needed adequate liability insurance when travelling on business abroad......

Significant regulatory overhauls remain on the horizon, and the country seems set to drift further from the EU’s rulebook in the near future. Practitioners in regulation argue that the break with Europe has opened the door for Britain to cement its role as a global centre for financial services. This reorientation from European to worldwide markets has, in turn, prompted forecasts that looser rules at home could turn Britain into a ‘new Bermuda’ for international insurance. According to Andrew Northage, a partner at Walker Morris LLP, the signal is unmistakable: the UK intends not only to maintain its status as a top-tier global insurance market, but to recast itself as an even more appealing venue for both domestic and overseas participants. ' Passporting' Rights One of the most consequential Brexit shifts was the end of so-called passporting for banks and insurers....

The Association of British Insurers ( ABI) announced in a report dated 29 January 2025 that small and medium-sized enterprises face exposure to cyber attacks, yet are failing to make use of insurance cover to help reduce the risk. According to the research, many companies felt their likelihood of suffering a cyber incident was low, or believed policies were too pricey to meet their needs. Compiled with accountants Grant Thornton UK LLP, the report urges SMEs to raise their uptake of insurance solutions to defend against cyber attacks. It also says SMEs should confront the widespread lack of understanding about the nature and scale of cyber threats across the sector......

In its closing submissions, the world’s biggest aircraft lessor urged the court to firmly dismiss Fidelis’s contention that it has no obligation to indemnify Aer Cap for losses tied to aircraft left in Russia because of sanctions imposed by the US, UK and EU, following coordinated measures. Mark Howard KC of Brick Court Chambers, for Aer Cap, said that permitting Fidelis to sidestep payment under its contingent liability policy with the lessor would do nothing to advance the objectives of sanctions on Russia in practice. Aer Cap is turning to contingency insurance to recover financial losses linked to the aircraft stuck in Russia. The lessor contends that Fidelis, together with several other participating insurers, must respond for 116 of its aircraft and 15 stand‑alone engines that were “lost” after becoming stranded in Russia in 2022. “ Fidelis are trying to argue that...

Among the latest triggers for reform was the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 ( FSMA 2023), which scrapped obsolete EU-derived rules and handed watchdogs fresh authority to set requirements that safeguard consumers. The statute also introduced a secondary aim centred on growth and competitiveness. Post- Brexit regulatory change has proved expensive and intricate. As the UK marks five years since Brexit, the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) is seeking to explain how it will balance consumer protection with the government’s ambition for financial services to spur economic expansion. Some lawyers caution that mixed messages risk creating uncertainty over supervisory priorities. ‘ Is this really the moment to contemplate a sweeping overhaul of the rulebook?’ asked Sara Cody, counsel in Linklaters LLP’s contentious regulation team. ‘ Firms have only just embedded the Consumer Duty and, before that, were grappling with the vast regulatory fallout from Brexit,’ Cody...

In this issue: Ukraine conflict Coronavirus ( COVID-19) business interruption insurance Cases and decisions Types of insurance UK Regulation International Regulation Cases tracker Dates for your diary New and updated content Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Ukraine conflict Insurer HDI Global Specialist SE has reached agreement with a dozen aircraft companies on compensation for jets left in limbo after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bringing to a close one strand of sprawling litigation valued in the billions of pounds. See News Analysis: HDI reaches settlement on planes stranded in Russia Aer Cap’s counsel said in closing submissions on 28 January 2025 that aviation insurers have ‘no merit whatsoever’ in arguments aimed at avoiding liability for aircraft taken by Russian airlines, in a High Court battle worth billions of dollars. See News Analysis: Aer Cap says insurers are on the hook for stranded planes On 29 January 2025, aircraft lessor Aer Cap told the High Court that...

Twenty-two companies, headed by Bath Racecourse Co Ltd, told the Court of Appeal that furlough monies received through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme did not represent a saving in expenses under their business interruption policies, as set out in the policy wording. The hearing forms the second stage of a test case that will weigh on thousands of other claims and could potentially leave insurers on the hook for billions of pounds in additional payouts overall. The dispute is fiercely contested, and ministers have rebuked insurers for, in effect, keeping taxpayer-backed assistance supplied by the state during the pandemic. ' Treating furlough receipts as a credit under the indemnity amounts to a direct transfer of value from government to insurers,' argued Adam Kramer KC of 3VB, counsel for Bath Racecourse. ' Absent the grants, the insured would be in the same position, but insurers would have had to pay...

NFU Mutual, the insurer serving the farming sector, stated in its High Court defence that the virus which closed businesses right across the UK was not 'an incident' for the purposes of a policy extension held with a cohort of 37 businesses, including South Farm Ltd and Micklefield Hall Ltd, a country house venue. NFU Mutual further says, in a defence lodged at the court on 20 January 2025, that any proven cases of COVID-19 'in the immediate vicinity or within a one-mile radius of the claimants' premises' did not amount to 'an incident' for the purposes of the [action of competent authority] extension. ' It is denied that the claimants are entitled to any indemnity.' In May 2024, the group of claimants argued they were all due a payout from the insurer for their alleged losses, totalling about £9.5m in business...

Aer Cap's counsel, Mark Howard KC of Brick Court Chambers Mark Howard KC contended that the policies in issue encompass 116 aircraft and 15 stand-alone engines deemed ‘lost’ after being left stranded in Russia. He told the court: ‘ The plain but unspoken reality, known to everyone here, is that this dispute is about which set of insurers will ultimately indemnify Aer Cap, and that depends solely on peril and loss.’ Opening on 2 October 2024, the trial casts a sharp light on contingent liability insurance. This type of cover responds where loss or damage to aircraft sits within the principal policy, yet the insurer does not step in. Six claims have been combined, likely serving as a test case for later disagreements. The lessors maintain there is ‘no realistic prospect’ of the aircraft and engines ever being returned. Major carriers, including Chubb and...

On 21 January 2025, the High Court made a Tomlin Order noting that Britannia Hotels No.2 Ltd and Aviva Insurance Ltd had decided to pause the litigation following a deal reached on 15 January 2025. The monetary terms of that deal were not revealed. The order provides that all steps in the claim are to be stayed in line with the settlement agreement, save for actions required to give effect to those terms, the order states......

Flat Iron Steak Ltd and QIC Europe Ltd end litigation An order recently released by the High Court confirms that Flat Iron Steak Ltd and QIC Europe Ltd have brought their legal dispute to an end, averting a trial that had been scheduled for 25 March 2025. The terms of the settlement were not made public. The restaurant chain, which runs sites in London and other cities, had sought £1m for each distinct disruption affecting its dozen locations in the capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The insurer, however, contended that the business was entitled to claim no more than £1m in total for all losses combined......

On 21 January 2025, Nigel Cooper KC, acting as a High Court judge, concluded that reinsurance contracts between Tyson International Co Ltd and GIC Re, India, Corporate Member Ltd contained provisions that inevitably clashed and created uncertainty. One jurisdiction clause stated the reinsurance was to be governed by the laws of England and Wales, yet another term required arbitration conducted under the laws of New York, the court observed. Nonetheless, the parties had included what was described as a confusion clause, which was clear that English law was to take precedence if there was any inconsistency, Judge Cooper held. The court accordingly granted Tyson International permanent anti-suit relief restraining arbitration in the Empire State. The underlying dispute traces back to a July 2021 blaze at Tyson Foods Inc.’s poultry rendering facility in Hanceville, Alabama. Tyson Foods placed its property risk with Tyson...

Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights—23 January 2025 In this issue: Coronavirus ( COVID-19) business interruption insurance Cases and decisions Types of insurance Insurance premium UK Regulation EU Regulation Cases tracker Dates for your diary New and updated content Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Coronavirus ( COVID-19) business interruption insurance A cohort of insurers will contest the test-case proceedings on business interruption cover linked to the coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic at the Court of Appeal in London on 21 January 2025, a hearing that practitioners say could shape disputes over cover for years. See News Analysis: COVID-19 business insurance litigation returns with test case appeal. Cases and decisions Tyson International Company Ltd v GIC RE, India Corporate Member Ltd (proceeded against as the sole corporate member for Syndicate 1947 at Lloyd’s of London for the 2021 and 2022 years of account). Tyson Foods’ captive may pursue proceedings in England against a reinsurer for sums...

HMRC reports that the levy on insurers, which covers most UK insurance premiums, generated £600m more in total between April 2024 and December 2024 than the £6.1bn collected over the equivalent period in 2023. The authority noted that £4.5bn paid into HM Treasury from this tax between April 2024 and September 2024 is the highest first-half total received since records were first kept in 1995......

Rules, policy or guidance about NFM New rules, policy or guidance on NFM are expected sometime in 2025, following the FCA’s NFM survey report issued in the final quarter of 2024. That report indicated marked rises in NFM between 2021 and 2023 in bullying and harassment. Oversight of NFM by the FCA, the PRA, the Bo E and other financial services regulators prompts philosophical and jurisprudential debate about how far the state can and should, as principal, delegate the stewardship, governance and enforcement of wide societal ethical matters, such as the treatment of women at work. Questions prompted by regulatory involvement in NFM within financial services include: is it truly the remit of a financial services regulator to monitor general conduct, for example, behaviour at an office party, that does not squarely sit within the scope of providing financial services?...

Beginning on 21 January 2025, the first case will examine how claims function under so-called composite policies, which are issued to groups of companies, and will additionally address issues arising in so-called non-damage denial of access clauses as well. The second case, commencing on 28 January 2025, will consider whether insurers are entitled to lawfully subtract the value of state financial assistance from the sums that policyholders may recover under their policies. Both matters have been long-standing points of dispute since the conservative government imposed a series of national lockdowns in 2020 in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus. Firms compelled to shut during those times have spent years contesting claims for business interruption payments under their policies from insurers......