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Brexit legislation tracker

This Practice Note tracks the progress of UK legislation introduced as part of the legislative project associated with the UK’s withdrawal from the

General principles of insurance contract law

What is insurance law?Insurance law can be split into three parts:•insurance contract law which governs the contractual relationship between insureds

Duties of the road user

Road traffic accidents are a prolific source of work for personal injury practitioners, giving rise to claims that span the full spectrum of severity

Fraud, exaggeration and LVIs in personal injury claims

DefinitionsFraudDefined in Derry v Peek as where it is shown that:'a false representation has been made (1) knowingly, or (2) without belief in its

Practice notes

Insurance business transfer schemes

Consistent with the common law of contract, an insurer is not able to transfer the burden of its obligations under a contract of insurance without the...

Produced in partnership with Geraldine Quirk of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner 15th Oct

Practice notes

Defences in road traffic accidents

Contributory negligenceThe question of contributory negligence is dependent on the facts of the case. In Davies the Court of Appeal stated that...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Autonomous vehicles—key legal issues

This Practice Note considers the following issues in relation to the development and use of autonomous and connected vehicles (also referred to as...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Double insurance and contribution

Overlapping insurance policesThere are various reasons why an insured may end up with overlapping insurance cover, whether deliberately or...

26th Sep

Practice notes

What is a contract of insurance?

This Practice Note covers the legal framework and regulatory guidance to be considered in determining whether an arrangement constitutes a contract of...

26th Sep

Practice notes

What are regulated activities?

Under the general prohibition a person cannot carry out a regulated activity, or purport to carry out a regulated activity, in the UK unless they are...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Brexit tracker—Insurers move out of the UK

This document tracks the movement of where (re)insurance companies will move in order to retain ‘passporting’ rights, following the UK’s decision to...

25th Sep

Brexit

Practice notes

Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD)—essentials

BREXIT: As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD)—Insurance Product Information Document requirements

BREXIT: As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Motor insurance

Brexit: The UK's departure from the EU on exit day, ie 31 January 2020, has implications for practitioners considering road traffic accidents. For...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Insurance clauses in commercial agreements—guidance notes

IntroductionOne of the purposes of a commercial contract is to allocate risk and liability through, for example, the provision of indemnities. In this...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Contributory negligence in road traffic accidents

In some instances someone may suffer damage that results partly from their own fault and partly from the fault of someone else. A claim in respect of...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Fraud, exaggeration and LVIs in personal injury claims

DefinitionsFraudDefined in Derry v Peek as where it is shown that:'a false representation has been made (1) knowingly, or (2) without belief in its...

25th Sep

Practice notes

An introduction to Lloyd’s of London

What is the Lloyd’s market?The Lloyd’s market is an insurance market, whose origins date back to the seventeenth century. Merchants would meet at...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Proving negligence in road traffic claims

The question of whether a road user has failed to drive with reasonable care is fact sensitive.Evidence of negligence may be gleaned from the...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD)—scope, registration, passporting and sanctions

BREXIT: As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has...

25th Sep

Most recent Q&As content

Q&As

What are the rules for service of the claim form and particulars of claim when the MIB are second defendant (as the first defendant is the uninsured driver) ie what is the time scale for service?

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) Uninsured Agreement 2015 applies to accidents which occurred on or after 1 August 2015 (see: Uninsured drivers' MIB...

Produced in partnership with David Green of 12 King's Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Where an insurance policy is stated to have a limit of indemnity which is 'any one claim and in the aggregate' how does this differ from an aggregate cap?

The most obvious and straightforward method for a party to protect itself is to limit its financial liability under a contract by agreeing a financial...

28th Sep

Q&As

What is decennial insurance?

Decennial insurance is insurance that can be taken out by those responsible for the design and construction of buildings to cover the costs associated...

Produced in partnership with Charles Russell Speechlys 28th Sep

Q&As

What is the difference between joint insured, co-insured and composite insured?

In financing and construction documentation for development projects it is usual to see requirements for parties to arrange insurance so that a...

28th Sep

Q&As

Following a successful professional negligence claim against a valuer, does a lender have to credit the loss recovered towards the borrower's account even though the loan is being maintained, ie the property has not been repossessed and sold?

As seen from Damages: Atkins Court Forms [28], available in Lexis®Library, the general position with regard to damages in professional negligence...

28th Sep

Q&As

Where a party was negligently advised to take out an endowment mortgage which did not cover the outstanding mortgage on maturity, what needs to be proved in order to establish a claim for damages?

It is not clear when the alleged mis-selling took place, but it may be that there is an allegation that there was a breach of the Financial Conduct...

28th Sep

Q&As

When does the limitation period commence for a claim under an indemnity?

The accrual of a cause of action in the case of a claim under an express indemnity will depend upon the terms of the contract: see eg Bosma v Larsen...

28th Sep

Q&As

What is the limitation period in an action against a solicitor for negligent drafting of a Will?

Where a person assumes responsibility to perform professional services for someone who relies on those services, a duty in tort to exercise reasonable...

28th Sep

Q&As

When can a motor insurer obtain a declaration under section 152 of the Road Traffic Act 1988?

Section 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988) provides that a motor insurer is bound to meet a judgment in respect of a relevant liability...

Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson 28th Sep

Q&As

Is there any case law which deals with whether insurers have or have not paid out for insurance cover for the cost of remediation works for contaminated land, if served with a remediation notice from the Council, and/or also any reduction in market value if the land is deemed contaminated? Additionally, is there any case law which mentions the scenario where voluntary remediation of contaminated land is carried out (instead of being served with a remediation notice first), and insurers still pay out, or refuse to pay out?

In Bartoline Ltd v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, costs were incurred by the policyholder in complying with statutory notices served on them by...

28th Sep

Q&As

In light of the Supreme Court decision in Cameron v LV, what is the correct procedure where the identity of the driver is disputed? Is there any case law on the reverse onus for burdens of proof if the individual is a named policyholder? Can they rely on their own failure to register as the vehicle keeper with the DVLA as prima facie evidence they were not the actual owners?

In Cameron v Liverpool Victoria Insurance Co Ltd, Ms Cameron was injured when her car collided with a Nissan Micra. The driver of the Micra made off...

28th Sep

Q&As

Will an FCA, solo regulated general insurance intermediary that will become subject (as a core firm) to the Senior Manager's Regime have to have a chief executive function or can the two executive directors simply take on SMF3 executive director functions?

As noted in Practice Note: Senior Managers and Certification Regime—essentials for SM&CR banking firms, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is...

28th Sep

Q&As

What constitutes a financial promotion under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and are there any exemptions?

Financial promotions under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000Under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000...

28th Sep

Q&As

The business of effecting or carrying out contracts of insurance is subject to prior authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. There are some limited exemptions to this requirement, for example breakdown insurance which is covered by Article 12 of the Regulated Activities Order. (Q1) Whilst the provider of 'breakdown cover/insurance' could operate under an exemption from carrying out and effecting a contract of insurance (Article 12), would the product ('breakdown cover/insurance') be classified as an insurance product? If so, should the terms and conditions of the ''breakdown cover/insurance' contain FOS rights against the provider, FSCS details? (Q2) If the product is considered to be insurance, will an agent distributing this 'breakdown cover or insurance' be conducting insurance mediation activity and therefore should be appropriately authorised, or make use of the Art 12 exemption?

You are correct that there is an exclusion for breakdown insurance under Article 12 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated...

28th Sep

Q&As

What is the interaction between the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act (both 1930 and 2010) and vicarious liability? Can vicarious liability claims succeed against insurers directly? What are the Claimant’s options where the Defendant is insolvent, impecunious or otherwise unavailable but insurance exists? Lastly, does vicarious liability supersede policy exceptions in order to compensate Claimants?

The Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (TP(RAI)A 2010) has, with effect from 1 August 2016, succeeded the Third Parties (Rights Against...

Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson 28th Sep

Q&As

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, will claimants still have a direct right of action against motor insurers?

This question relates to the European Communities (Rights Against Insurers) Regulations 2002 (EC(RAI) Regs 2002), SI 2002/3061 legislation introduced...

Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson 28th Sep

Brexit

Q&As

In a claim where liability was admitted and a client received a £3,000 interim payment, is there any obligation for that interim payment to be repaid to the defendant's insurers in circumstances where the client is not proceeding? The client has not responded and I am preparing to close their file on that basis.

An interim payment is a payment made by a defendant on account of a claimant's monetary claim before the court has made a final determination on the...

28th Sep

Q&As