Yesterday, the High Court delivered judgment in the matter of Selig v. Wealthsure Pty Ltd [2015] HCA 18. 

Holman Webb is delighted to announce the recent appointment of Hamish Cotton, Special Counsel to our Insurance team.

In Byrne v People Resourcing (Qld) Pty Ltd & Anor [2014] QSC (Byrne), Carmody CJ held that WorkCover Queensland (WorkCover) was required to indemnify the plaintiff’s employer, People Resourcing (Qld) Pty Ltd (PRQ) a labour hire company in relation to a contractual indemnity that PRQ had provided to one of its clients/host employers, Thiess John Holland (TJH).

Holman Webb acted for CGU Insurance Limited in what is considered to be the first successful subrogated recovery action against a water authority.  The case involved damage caused to an insured’s property when a water main substantially failed and the property became inundated with water. In the decision of Peter and Cheryle Quigley v Lower Murray Water (W119/2013) the VCAT considered for the first time a water authority’s defence of running an asset to failure and its defence of non-foreseeability.

Please find below Holman Webb Schedule of Non-Economic Loss under the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) for 2014/2015.

Welcome to the first edition of the Holman Webb Insurance Law Bulletin.

This edition of the Bulletin highlights cases on legal professional privilege, bullying, workers compensation, aviation, liability and medical malpractice. We also discuss the recent High Court decision in respect of section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act

S54 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) may well be the bane of all insurers as it is really a double-edged sword. In essence, it prevents an Insurer from relying on a breach of a policy condition to deny a claim because the insured has committed a particular act, error or omission (after the policy is entered into) which did not cause or contribute to the loss. However, the insurer may instead, reduce the claim to the extent of the prejudice it has suffered.  If the act, error or omission caused or contributed to the loss, then the insurer can refuse to pay the claim.

Mrs Paul underwent a scan to determine whether she had a berry aneurysm in 2003, which her radiologist, Dr Cooke failed to diagnose at the time. In 2006, Mrs Paul underwent a further scan in which the aneurysm was detected.

This year's AICLA-ANZIIF Claims Convention program examined the changing nature of the insurance claims business.  The conference covered a variety of issues including business development, offshoring, cyber security, fraud, professional privilege and how social media will change the claims sector.

Two recent decisions of the Federal Court and the New South Wales Supreme Court can be of assistance to insurers to avoid providing certain documents to opponents. Some correspondence with witnesses, including expert witnesses, and drafts of reports and statements do not have to be produced if legal professional privilege applies to the documents (i.e. if the documents were created for the dominant purpose of a lawyer providing legal advice or for the purpose of litigation).