Legal News

In this issue: Cases and decisions Insurance Types 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 Cases and decisions Lloyds Development Ltd v Accor Hotel Services UK Ltd The Technology and Construction Court determined an application concerning the suitability of an after-the-event ( ATE) policy to serve as security for costs, in lieu of paying money into court. It concluded that Lloyds Developments Limited (the claimant) could provide security by way of an ATE policy including an Anti‑ Avoidance Endorsement ( AAE), on condition that particular wording and provisions sought by the defendant, Accor Hotel Services UK Limited, were incorporated. The judge ruled on disputed matters about the addition of clauses addressing fraud, certification of costs, and...

In a statement issued on 26 July 2025, the German global insurer confirmed that cyber criminals had accessed personally identifiable information concerning the majority of Allianz Life’s customers, financial professionals, and select Allianz Life employees, after leveraging a social engineering tactic. Social engineering centres on manipulating people into actions that weaken their security, such as: transferring money revealing sensitive information The parent company of the North American business said it acted immediately following the 16 July 2025 breach to contain and mitigate the......

In this issue: COVID-19 Cases and decisions Insurance claims 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 COVID-19 Racecourses lose early fight in £80m coronavirus ( COVID-19) insurance dispute On 22 July 2025, a racecourse operator closed by the coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic failed in its argument that the £2.5m policy limit attached to each cancelled race; the London court held that individual fixtures did not constitute distinct occurrences of loss. See: Racecourses lose early fight in £80m coronavirus ( COVID-19) insurance dispute. Cases and decisions AXA France IARD S. A. v Santander Cards UK Ltd In the King’s Bench Division ( Commercial Court), the court examined intricate issues linked to alleged mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance ( PPI) predating 2005. AXA, as...

According to a statement from the Prudential Regulation Authority ( PRA), Barents Reinsurance SA ( Barents) did not sufficiently plan for the regulatory consequences of the UK’s exit from the EU, the PRA said. The PRA added that Barents fell short in putting certain internal audit recommendations into practice. The regulator also found that, from July 2021 to October 2023, during this period, Barents lacked an appropriate, proportionate governance framework for its activities. Operating across multiple jurisdictions, Barents had moreover neglected to develop a governance plan reflecting its UK business. This was among a number of shortcomings that resulted in late regulatory......

The High Court has held that Santander must reimburse AXA for sums the insurer paid to victims of the PPI misselling scandal. The court found that Santander’s subsidiary, GE Capital Bank, had repeatedly fallen short of regulatory standards when selling policies. In a written ruling, Judge Julia Dias dismissed Santander's attempt to shift responsibility to a policy underwriter acquired by AXA as 'slightly laughable'. ' GE Capital Bank is liable for all the regulatory consequences of its misselling and is therefore liable for all redress and Financial Ombudsman Service ( FOS) fees paid by AXA under the regulatory regime, irrespective of whether individual complaints would have succeeded in a court of law', Dias J wrote. The judgment follows a protracted legal dispute after AXA France IARD SA and AXA France Vie SA brought proceedings against the bank in March 2021. They argued that two parts of the...

This week, the UK’s financial regulator accused the insurance sector of misleading customers through unclear policy wording, levying steep charges for instalment payments, and too often handling claims poorly. Nevertheless, despite the damning tenor of its report on the sector, the first of a two-part study, the FCA confirmed it will not pursue additional enforcement against the industry. It said it plans to engage directly with individual firms, yet stopped short of publicly identifying them, declining to name and shame. Consumer advocates argue the watchdog must be firmer, noting insurers have had sufficient time to meet the Consumer Duty, a suite of rules obliging financial firms to deliver fair value, treat consumers fairly, and secure good outcomes for customers. “ The FCA appears to be placing considerable faith in firms to act properly and reform their behaviours in line with the Consumer Duty,” said Rocio...

In this issue: Cases and decisions Insurance types 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 Cases and decisions National House Building Council v Peabody Trust The Court of Appeal ( Civil Division) rejected an appeal concerning the correct interpretation of Option 1 under an NHBC policy, in proceedings between Peabody (claimant/respondent) and NHBC (defendant/appellant). Under the policy, Peabody is insured where they ‘have to pay more’ than otherwise because the contractor becomes insolvent or commits fraud prior to practical completion. The court held that the cause of action arose not on the contractor’s ( Vantage) insolvency, but at the point the claimant actually ‘had to pay more’ on account of that insolvency. It rejected NHBC’s contention that...

The High Court, in an initial ruling, determined that 22 companies within the Arena Racing group, which runs horse and dog racing tracks across the UK, were not entitled to claim up to £2.5m per cancelled race from their insurers, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE, Allianz Insurance Plc and Aviva Insurance Ltd. In a written judgment, Judge Sean O’ Sullivan concluded that the applicable limits relate to losses arising from ‘trigger events’—such as government-imposed restrictions—rather than to each individual race that could not proceed because of those restrictions......

With just under twelve months until the new rules on solvent exit planning take effect, many insurers are still at the very early phases of preparation. Securing meaningful progress over summer 2025 will be vital to meet the deadline. Solvent exit analysis Under the new regime, insurers will need to create and maintain a solvent exit analysis, setting out measures for an orderly solvent exit as part of business-as-usual. This requirement applies regardless of the prospect of a solvent exit. The PRA expects a firm’s solvent exit analysis to: set out solvent exit options, e.g. loss portfolio transfers, Part VII transfers, disposals or run‑offs, that the firm could undertake include suitable solvent exit indicators to signal when a solvent exit should be triggered, and evaluate the likelihood of successful delivery address possible barriers and risks, both market‑wide and firm‑specific, to executing a solvent exit; such barriers and risks should be...

Representatives of Leaseholder Action have confirmed the group has issued pre-action letters to four of the country’s largest freeholders, as a precursor to an anticipated group claim seeking compensation for allegedly unlawful commissions levied on insurance premiums. The group says some of these charges account for as much as 60% of the premiums paid by leaseholders, a level it describes as excessive. Letters have been sent to freehold landlords E& J Estates, Long Harbour, Consensus Business Group and Ground Rents Income Fund Plc. Leaseholder Action is advised by boutique practice Velitor Law, with the litigation financed by Balance Legal Capital, the group added. According to the group, the prospective claim could impact up to 900,000 homeowners, most commonly those owning flats in multi-occupancy buildings. It also expects to dispatch similar letters to a second tranche of freehold landlords later in 2025 and...

Insurance industry insiders fear cautious watchdogs will not go far enough to make the country genuinely internationally competitive, meaningfully so on the world stage, when set against long-established captive insurance centres such as Guernsey and Luxembourg. Captives—dedicated insurance vehicles formed to underwrite a parent company’s risks—are an appealing mechanism for businesses aiming to manage risk financing on their balance sheets more effectively. They provide more bespoke cover, lower premiums and more direct access to wholesale reinsurance markets, too. Yet the UK’s stringent regulatory posture has historically largely treated these entities, for the purposes of solvency and capital adequacy, as equivalent to full commercial insurers. Observers worry the UK’s captive regime could be strangled at birth if the government’s new framework proves comparatively too capital‑intensive against rival centres and benchmarks. Before Brexit, Britain’s regulators were criticised for gold‑plating EU...

In this issue: Cases and decisions Insurance types Contractual considerations— Duty of fair representation 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 Cases and decisions Desai v Wood The Court of Appeal ( Civil Division) rejected the appeal by Dilip Desai and Paresh Shah, upholding the finding that sums paid by Royal & Sun Alliance Ltd ( RSA) to the defendant in the underlying action, Boscolo Ltd (in liquidation), under a professional indemnity policy are beneficially the Company’s, notwithstanding its later voluntary liquidation. The court held there was no implied term or trust in the Design Contract requiring the proceeds to be held for the appellants. It also confirmed that, absent express contractual wording or statutory provision, third parties acquire no...

On 10 July 2025, Neil Roberts, the LMA’s head of marine and aviation, noted that incidents where Houthi fighters attacked and sank two ships have underscored the ‘need for caution’ for organisations contemplating passage through the sea inlet......

Insurers underwriting trade credit and supply-chain covers have been narrowing policy wordings as they brace for claims amid the swings in global trading terms ushered in by the Trump administration. A projected surge in worldwide insolvencies could unsettle supplier credit arrangements. Additional exposures may arise from goods being stockpiled in warehouses, and disruption at ports could put pressure on supply-chain policy conditions. These dynamics could not only prompt litigation over whether policies respond to particular losses, but also fuel disputes between insurers where a policyholder’s covers potentially overlap. Sonia Campbell, a partner at law firm Covington & Burling LLP, noted that carriers are likely to scrutinise their heightened risk very carefully. In such a volatile market, she said, insurers will keep a firm focus on limiting that exposure. She also indicated that, if this continues, the market may harden, whether through the...

Insurers, among them subsidiaries of AXA and Allianz, told the Court of Appeal that the non-disclosure amounted to a breach of the duty of fair representation of the risk under the Insurance Act 2015 ( IA 2015). Delos Shipholding SA, owner of the Win Win, together with the vessel’s commercial and technical managers and its mortgagee, sued the insurers for declining cover. Counsel for the insurers, Philippa Hopkins KC of Essex Court Chambers, argued—according to the judgment—that Delos knew, yet failed to disclose, that director Evangelos Bairactaris was criminally charged in March 2018 in relation to the alleged financing of drug trafficking. She said the non-disclosure induced the insurers to issue the policy on those terms and that it should be voided under the IA 2015. In March 2024, High Court Judge Julia Dias ( Dias J) rejected the insurers’...

In this issue: Coronavirus ( COVID-19) business interruption insurance Insurance types UK Regulation International Regulation Cases tracker Dates for your diary Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Coronavirus ( COVID-19) business interruption insurance Top court to hear appeal in COVID-19 insurance furlough case The UK Supreme Court has agreed to consider an appeal in a disputed case where insurers effectively kept state furlough funds intended for businesses during the coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic. See: Top court to hear appeal in COVID-19 insurance furlough case. Insurance types Professional indemnity Lawyers warn that companies replacing employees with artificial intelligence ( AI) tools could encounter hurdles claiming under standard negligence policies if consumers are left out of pocket. See: AI risks leaving UK businesses exposed to insurance gaps. UK Regulation PRA publishes letter on...

On 2 July 2025, Britain’s highest court granted permission to several companies to appeal in two connected legal matters: Bath Racecourse Co Ltd v Liberty Mutual and Gatwick Investment Ltd v Liberty Mutual. The appeal is set to function as a significant test case on whether insurers may deduct furlough funding provided by government to businesses during the national COVID-19 lockdowns from the value of any successful business interruption claims made under their policies. ‘ The furlough scheme is said to have cost the Treasury in the region of £70bn’, commented James Breese, a partner specialising in policyholder disputes at Stewarts Law LLP. The firm represents the claimants in the dispute......

Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights—3 July 2025 In this issue: Insurance types UK regulation EU 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 Insurance types Aviation — A survey released on 25 June 2025 finds aviation underwriters regard escalating geopolitical volatility as their primary concern for 2025–30. See: Geopolitical instability tops aviation insurers' concerns. Marine — An analyst report dated 24 June 2025 notes carriers have raised rates for vessels navigating Middle Eastern waters, reflecting potential market losses linked to the Iran– Israel conflict. See: Insurers hike marine premiums due to Iran- Israel war. UK regulation ABI supports government’s industry strategy — The Association of British Insurers has openly endorsed the ten‑year industrial strategy intended to boost business investment and growth in the UK. See: ABI supports government’s industry strategy. EU regulation EIOPA launches consultation on revised supervisory review guidelines under Solvency II — The...

Experts warn that existing commercial insurance may leave holes when firms deploy customer-facing AI chatbots. Professional indemnity policies usually respond when clients pursue compensation for negligent advice or defective services delivered by a business. However, they typically won’t respond if the negligence stems from misinformation supplied directly to a customer by the AI system. Lawyers attribute this to long-standing, standardised exclusions introduced to limit cyber exposure. Applied broadly, these exclusions can also shield insurers from software-related losses, including AI. Richard Breavington, a partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP, noted that while firms may sensibly rely on cutting-edge tools, if trouble arises they can still face liability and be unable to recover it fully. Protection gaps The breadth of these exclusions came to light in 2019, when regulators raised the alarm that, because of loose wording in standard commercial property policies, insurers were...

The International Union of Aerospace Insurers reported that 64% of survey participants cited war or linked perils as their chief worry. These findings were released after the High Court later decided insurers were responsible for the multi‑billion‑dollar loss of aircraft left grounded in Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Tom Hughes, director of underwriting at the International Underwriting Association and chair of the aerospace insurers’ union, noted that aviation underwriters are carefully tracking the rise of new technologies and nascent threats. However, when invited to specify the......