Welcome to the Summer 2016 edition of Insurance Issues, our six-monthly look at key issues and developments affecting different areas of business in the insurance market.
Affecting all areas, Brexit looms large on the horizon. The exact impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union is yet unclear and will remain that way until negotiations between the UK and the other EU states have begun and develop. It is, however, evident that there will be major implications for the insurance market, from access to the single market and passporting rights to reciprocal arrangements for the enforcement of cross-border judgments and rules governing choice of law in insurance policies.
On a domestic level, 2016 has already seen a number of important decisions in the courts with implications for the whole market. Key among these are the Supreme Court’s ruling last month in Versloot Dredging v HDI Gerling on so-called fraudulent devices used to support insurance claims and the Court of Appeal’s decision in April in AIG Europe Limited v OC320301 LLP, a decision on aggregation that will impact areas of insurance well beyond the solicitors’ PI context in which it was decided.
This month also sees the coming into force of the most important insurance law legislation in over 100 years. The changes introduced by the Insurance Act 2015 have been widely anticipated and will see significant modifications to the remedies available to insurers for non-disclosure and misrepresentation and to the effect of warranties and conditions precedent in policy terms. With rather less fanfare, the delayed Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 finally came into force on 1 August. For liability insurers of insolvent insureds, the Act will make it easier for third party claimants to claim directly from insurers and allows requests for information to be made of insurers and brokers which must be answered within 28 days.
Looking ahead, from May 2017 insurers may be faced with claims for damages for late payment of insurance claims. A new section 13A in the Insurance Act will imply a term into all insurance contracts that an insurer must pay sums due in respect of a claim within a reasonable time. In this edition we have included a section looking at the implications.
We hope you find Insurance Issues useful and informative. We are always keen to hear your views on our publications and if you would like to discuss any of the issues in this edition please get in touch.
To download a copy of the full report, please click the PDF below. If you would like hard copies or any further information please contact Diane Jerry.
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