Insurance Brokers PI: Duties Owed On Placement

A recent case concerned the renewal of PI cover for a group of property services companies, and whether an excess layer policy responded to third party claims relating to property valuations carried out by a company that had been recently acquired by the group.

The group's instructions to its broker were to renew the existing insurance cover for the group. For the previous year the company had had excess layer cover for its property valuation business but when claims were presented to the excess layer insurers for the year in question they were declined. The claimants sued their broker, and the broker later joined both the excess insurers and the placing broker it instructed as parties to the proceedings.