In The Cultural Foundation v Beazley Furlonge and
Others [2018] EWHC 1083 the Commercial Court considered the
division of liability between primary and excess insurers in
circumstances where it was unclear to which year the relevant
claims had been notified. There were several other preliminary
issues in this case, however the decision as to notification is of
the greatest significance.
The two claimants had brought two claims against a firm of
architects (the insured under the relevant policies of insurance)
under a series of contracts. Following arbitration awards being
made in favour of the claimants, the architects had become
insolvent and the claimants sought an indemnity from the insurers
under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930. A
dispute arose as to whether the claims were notified to the primary
insurers during the 2008/2009 Policy Year, or whether some of the
claims were, in fact notified during the 2009/2010 Policy Year. The
significance
