Deliberating The Meaning Of Deliberate

It is common knowledge that exclusion clauses in an insurance contract, being the sword and shield of insurers, frequently form the heart of disputes in the adjudication of insurance claims. Insurance policies generally do not cover losses or damage arising from intentional acts of harm by the insured, owing to the underlying nature of insurance being a contingency and due to public policy reasons - an insured cannot be allowed to consciously manipulate and manifest the risk to benefit from the same nor should it be allowed to benefit from its own wrongdoing. Thus, the mental element often becomes an important point for consideration.

The recent UK Supreme Court case of Burnett or Grant v International Insurance Company of Hanover Ltd [2021] UKSC 12 provides guidance and dissects the meaning of "deliberate acts" which was present in the exclusion clause of an insurance contract.