Insurance Law Monthly

The question in Cantone v Insurance Australia Ltd [2022] FCA 1009 was whether a demand for a costs order in proceedings in which no actual claims were made against the assured but which were nevertheless defended by the assured constituted a "claim" for "compensation" against the assured. In the unusual circumstances of the absence of any claim against the assured there was no coverage for defence costs, and so the question became whether such costs formed part of the primary indemnity.

In Thera Agri Capital No 2 Pty Ltd v BCC Trade Credit Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 669 Rees J in the New South Wales Supreme Court discussed the effect of fraud on a trade credit policy issued by the insurers to cover failure by the debtor to pay sums due and, in default, failure by the guarantor of that debt to honour the guarantee. What would otherwise have been a straightforward case was complicated by the fact that the parties had agreed to a funding transaction that was Sharia-compliant, although in the event they did not do so.

In The Estate of Arbabbahrami v MSH International (Canada) Ltd 2022 ONSC 5723 Robert Centa J in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether the downing of an aircraft by Iranian missiles was within the scope of a war risks exclusion in a life and accident policy. The court's conclusion was that the incident was not a hostile one and that there should be recovery.

In Al Mana Lifestyle Trading LLC and Others v United Fidelity Insurance Co PSC and Others [2022] EWHC 2049 (Comm) Cockerill J held that a business interruption insurance claim brought in England under a non-exclusive jurisdiction clause should be heard in England. The judgment contains important and incisive analysis of the correct approach to the interpretation and application of such clauses.