(Re)insurance Weekly Update 02- 2017

This Week's Caselaw

Maccaferri v Zurich Insurance: Court of Appeal construes a notification CP requiring notice "as soon as possible"

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2016/1302.html&query=title+(+maccaferri+)&method=boolean

The first instance decision in this case was reported in Weekly Update 23/15. A worker was seriously injured using a tool which had been hired by the claimant insured (via a builders' merchant). The insured did not give notice to its insurer until the builders' merchant issued Part 20 proceedings against it, almost 2 years after the accident.

The notification condition precedent in the policy required notification "as soon as possible after the occurrence of any event likely to give rise to a claim". The insurer argued that this required the insured to give notice when it becomes aware of an event that is likely to give rise to a claim, or when it ought to have become so aware. In other words, the insured had