Portrait ofAlex Denslow

Alex Denslow

Partner
Head of the CMS Insurance Group

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English, French

Alex Denslow is Head of the CMS Insurance Group. In this position, he leads an international team of 100 specialist lawyers.

He is a recommended partner in Chambers and Legal 500 for insurance / reinsurance disputes and international arbitrations, and was shortlisted for the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer.

Alex advises international insurers and reinsurers on direct and reinsurance disputes and coverage issues, across non-marine (particularly property and casualty) and marine (cargo, freight liability and offshore energy) matters. He also has extensive experience of defending brokers and their E&O insurers in major multi-party disputes. He provides coverage advice and handles the defence of claims across energy, specie, property solicitor and IFA lines of business.

Alex has considerable trial experience. He has been involved in several landmark cases including the Court of Appeal decisions in Bonner-v-Cox; Jones-v-Environcom; Clark-v-In Focus and Aspen Insurance-v-Adana Construction and acted in numerous successful confidential arbitrations.

Having held in-house positions at Miller Insurance Services LLP, Markel International and Aon, Alex’s advice is underpinned by an understanding of how the insurance market operates. He provides tailored risk management training to clients and lectures extensively on legal issues affecting the market, as well as litigation strategy. He is a co-author of the leading English legal textbook "Insurance Broking Practice and the Law". Alex was awarded the CMS Client Relationship Partner Award for outstanding service to his clients.

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The enthusiastic and dedicated Alex Denslow is commended by clients for always seeing the bigger picture

Chambers

Alex Denslow understands what drives insurers

Legal 500

Relevant experience

Professional Indemnity (defence and coverage)

  • IFA and its PI insurers in the ground-breaking Court of Appeal decision of Clark v In Focus Asset Management, which decided that a claimant cannot accept the maximum FOS award limit, and then sue for the balance of loss in court.
  • Aon in the heavyweight “77 Energy Cover” (Bonner-v-Cox) Commercial Court litigation, a six month trial of a complex £100m dispute over reinsurance of an energy cover purchased by Lloyd’s underwriters.
  • Broker Miles Smith in the Court of Appeal case of Jones v Environcom, the seminal decision on the duty of care owed by a broker to its client.

Reinsurance (defence and coverage)

  • Coverage and aggregation issues arising in connection with California Wildfires, Hurricane Frances, Typhoon Songda, World Trade Centre, PA Spiral, NZ earthquakes, Superstorm Sandy
  • Numerous successful arbitrations, most recently concerning the trigger of an OIML Warranty following an incident involving the FPSO Maersk Gryphon.

Liability (defence and coverage)

  • A  groundworks contractor in the Court of Appeal decision of Aspen v Adana Construction which concerned its coverage dispute with its liability insurer following a tower crane collapse. the first reported decision on the meaning of “product” in a standard combined contractor’s liability policy and determining the inter-relationship of product and public liability sections and the operation of efficacy exclusions in product liability wordings. 
  • Coverage advice on the failure of steel bolts in The Leadenhall “Cheesegrater” Building. 
  • Complex arbitration involving a coverage dispute following a claim made for US$ 17mn CBI losses flowing from the collapse of a bridge in Russia.

Energy, Marine, Specie (defence and coverage)

  • Italian insurers in relation to the successful subrogated recovery in a Commercial Court trial against the Salvage Association following a negligent JH143 Shipyard risk assessment survey which contributed to damage following a fire on the vessel MV Cala Palma.
  • Coverage / defence instructions on a wide variety of specie issues involving freight liability, cargo, aquaculture, fine art and trade credit.
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Memberships & Roles

  • British Insurance Law Association
  • The Law Society
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Lectures list

  • 15 March 2016 – Speaker SZ Reinsurance Day, Munich
  • 18 Sept 2015 – Speaker, Aon Benfield Facultative Eastern European Reinsurance Conference, Prague.
  • 13 July 2015 – Speaker, NARIM Dutch Association for Insurance Managers (English insurance law)
  • 13 March 2015 – Speaker, CausaRie Dutch Insurance / Reinsurance Professionals (English insurance law).
  • 21 Nov 2013 – Presentation to London Reinsurance Market Claims Group (Superstorm Sandy).
  • 18 Nov 2010 – Presentation to the LMA Claims Committee ( legal ramifications of the Lloyd’s Claims Scheme)
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Education

  • 1996 - The College of Law, Guildford
  • 1995 - LLB, Southampton University
  • 1991 - The King’s College School, Wimbledon 
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Feed

08/05/2024
2024 Insurance sector webinar programme
Notwithstanding the extraordinary times we’ve all been operating in, the insurance sector continues to deal with fast-paced changes. Insurance companies should keep up with changing regulations and market trends that will impact on their day-to-day operations and long-term business. It has become crucial for (re)insurers, brokers, their risk managers and general counsels to get the right insight and advice across a wide range of claims and coverage, and regulatory and corporate issues. To deliver the expert responses that the insurance market needs, the CMS Insurance Group has developed a comprehensive programme for 2024.
29/11/2023
2023 Insurance sector webinar programme
Notwithstanding the extraordinary times we’ve all been operating in, the insurance sector continues to deal with fast-paced changes. Insurance companies should keep up with changing regulations and...
19/05/2023
Ten things every insurer should know
The insurance industry is a major component of the global economy, operating internationally, to protect people and businesses against a wide range of risks. Establishing and operating an insurance business...
28/10/2022
Business Interruption Insurance and Covid-19: aggregation and furlough...
In January 2021, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the FCA’s Test Case on non-damage business interruption (BI) cover for losses arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. See our previous Law-Now...
18/10/2022
Insurance | Claims & Coverage Insights – 2022 webinar programme
Our 2022 webinar programme aimed to help (re)insurers, brokers and risk managers deal with increasingly complex claims in an interconnected and complicated world. Access our webinar materials below. Construction...
21/03/2022
First decision on insurers’ liability for damages for late payment
The case of Quadra Commodities S.A v XL Insurance Co SE and Others is the first reported case that considers section 13A of the Insurance Act 2015 and insurers’ liability to pay damages for not paying...
19/01/2021
Business Interruption Insurance and Covid-19: FCA’s expectations following...
On 17th June 2020, the FCA published finalised guidance setting out the regulator’s expectations in respect of their regulatory obligations (under FCA Principles, ICOBS and DISP) for Insurers and insurance...
18/01/2021
Business Interruption Insurance and Covid-19: FCA’s expectations following...
The Supreme Court delivered its keenly-an­ti­cip­ated judgment in the FCA’s Test Case on non-damage business interruption (BI) cover for losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic on 15 January 2021. The...
16/12/2020
Insurance Insights
The insurance market is constantly evolving, so you need to stay up to date on the latest developments to anticipate and handle any potential issues and benefit from opportunities. With “Insurance Insights”...
15/10/2020
Reinsurance: COVID-19 – where are we now?
At different stages in the COVID-19 pandemic, we have considered the impact on the reinsurance market. Most recently (see our Law-Now), we considered the likely implications of the “second wave”...
16/09/2020
FCA Update and Guidance following judgment in the Business Interruption...
The much-awaited decision in the FCA’s High Court test case in relation to non-damage business interruption (BI) insurance policies and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic was published yesterday...
07/07/2020
Reinsurance: COVID-19 – the second wave
Earlier in the pandemic, we examined emerging issues likely to be of interest to reinsureds and reinsurers (see our Law-Now). With the spread of the disease apparently easing in some jurisdictions but...