Highway Hauliers Pty Ltd v Maxwell [2012] WASC 53
On 21 February 2012, Corboy J of the Supreme Court of Western
Australia found in favour of Highway Hauliers Pty Ltd
(Highway Hauliers) ruling that section 54 of the
Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) precluded its insurer from
denying indemnity. Corboy J characterised the operation of insured
vehicles by drivers who had not complied with certain driving tests
and the failure to supply declarations about each driver to the
insurer as an act or omission which would trigger the operation of
section 54. Significantly, the Court found that by reason of the
insurer's wrongful declinature of cover, it was also liable to
compensate Highway Hauliers for consequential loss, thus extending
the compensable damages beyond the policy's indemnity
limit.
