This week's edition of Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights includes: the UK Supreme Court rules insurers must pay out on third-party hire car losses (Armstead v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company Ltd); a case analysis on Gatwick Investments Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE; court says catastrophe applies in coronavirus (COVID-19) reinsurance cases; marine insurer Skuld cancels Red Sea war risks; the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) published a new professional indemnity insurance guide; UK insurers agree to pause sale of guaranteed asset protection cover; cases & decisions; key dates for your diary; and other news highlights reported over the past week.

Background When the clinical disputes protocol was first introduced, reflecting Lord Woolf’s concern about the adversarial nature of clinical negligence litigation, the protocol included a lot of explanatory material about the aims and objectives of the reforms generally. Much of this material was subsequently considered unnecessary and so was removed in an effort to streamline the protocol and reinforce its use as a procedural framework. The clinical disputes protocol retains a strong emphasis on communication between parties, early investigation and resolution prior to the commencement of proceedings. It also reflects the unique complexities of clinical disputes, both with regard to the patient/clinician relationship and the use of experts. The protocol now makes specific reference to the duty of candour imposed on healthcare providers by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/2936. It also includes consideration of an apology as a separate specific objective. See Practice Note: The duty of candour. Coronavirus (COVID-19) The Clinical Negligence Protocol (2020) (last updated in

This Practice Note provides a step-by-step process for analysing and invoking a force majeure clause. It must be read in conjunction with Practice Note: Force majeure—consequences and contract discharge. This illustration indicates the steps involved in determining the effective use of a force majeure clause: Stage 1—is there a force majeure clause? There is no legal concept in English law of ‘force majeure’ (contrast this with countries which apply a civil code specifically recognising force majeure, eg France). Therefore if your client wishes to avoid or limit their liability because of an inability to perform caused by an event such as, eg the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (as was seen in 2020) or the imposition of financial sanctions against Russian entities and individuals/impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, then you will need to check that the relevant agreement contains a force majeure clause. For guidance on breaching contractual terms due to financial sanctions more generally, see Practice Note: Statutory controls in contract breach scenarios. As with any contractual clause, how the force

The question of whether a deed can be witnessed remotely is a difficult one as the position at law is unclear. For the reasons that follow, it is likely to be in the best interests of the client to execute the settlement agreement in the physical presence of the witness, rather than remotely. The Law Commission on Electronic Execution of Documents (Law Com No. 386) considers that there is no need for formal primary legislation to reinforce the legal validity of electronic signatures on documents, but states that the position in respect of remote witnessing of documents is less clear. Section 1(3) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 (LP(MP)A 1989) provides that an instrument is validly executed as a deed if, and only if, it is signed by an individual in the presence of a witness who attests

CASE HUB ARCHIVED—this case hub reflects the position at the date of the judgment of 28 September 2023; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline. Case facts Outline Appeals against the General Court’s judgments in Cases T- 378/20 and T- 379/20 dismissing actions for annulment of the Commission decisions of 15 April 2020 and 24 April 2020 approving two separate guarantees on a revolving credit facility of up to SEK 1.5bn in favour of Scandinavian airline SAS for damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak (SA.56795 and SA.5601). Latest developments On 28 September 2023, the General Court issued its judgment in which it dismissed the appeals in their entirety. In particular, it: (i) dismissed Ryanair's arguments challenging the assessment of the proportionality of the aid measures; (ii) rejected Ryanair’s arguments alleging that the measures breached the principle of non-discrimination; (iii) held that the General Court had been correct to find that the aid measures did not breach the principles of freedom of establishment

This Practice Note is one of a series of notes covering National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR). It covers business improvement districts (BIDs), explaining what they are and how they are created and funded. It also covers business rates supplements and retention of NNDR by local authorities. What are business improvement districts? Section 41 of the Local Government Act 2003 (LGA 2003) provides for the introduction of BIDs. This allows a billing authority to place an additional levy on ratepayers in the BID area to fund projects providing additional services or improvements for the benefit to the local community (defined broadly as ‘those who live, work or carry’ on any activity in the district. Two or more billing authorities may agree to establish BIDs (known as joint arrangements) in respect of a BID which spans authority boundaries. BID scheme bodies are classed as a ‘relevant body’ for the purposes of the Localism Act 2011. BID Schemes which existed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were extendable; though nothing prevented the

Coronavirus (COVID-19): This Practice Note contains guidance on matters that have temporarily been altered to assist in the management of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For further information, see Practice Notes: Local authority meetings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic [Archived] and Coronavirus (COVID-19)—governance tracker [Archived]. Elements of accessibility The following table sets out the position in a typical authority. Some authorities grant additional rights to councillors and members of the public. Council Committees and sub-committees Officers’ non-executive decisions Cabinet (key and non-key decisions) Individual executive members (key and non-key decisions) Officers’ key executive decisions Officers’ non-key executive decisions 1 Public identification of the body or person responsible for taking the decision Yes — statute and constitution Yes — statute and constitution (terms of reference), and council minutes for ad-hoc delegations to committees and sub-committees Yes — scheme of delegations and minutes for ad-hoc delegations Yes — statute and constitution Yes — statute and constitution (scheme of delegation to cabinet members) Yes — scheme of delegations and cabinet minutes for ad-hoc delegations Yes

Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 provides a fault-based method for a landlord to obtain possession of residential premises let under an Assured or an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. One of the grounds is arrears of rent (ground 8). From 29 August 2020 four weeks’ notice must be given where the arrears are at least six months, and six months’ notice must be given where the arrears are less than six months. These periods have been modified by regulations made under the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020). (See CA 2020, s 81 and CA 2020, Sch 29 as amended by the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential

STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, implements legislation to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and replace it with a residence-based regime, from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also replaces domicile as the key factor in establishing liability to inheritance tax. Other changes include amendment of the rules determining excluded property status, the abolition of protected settlements status of offshore trusts, and changes to overseas workday relief. For information on these changes, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26 and A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025. CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): For guidance on the difficulties and practicalities of taking instructions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see Practice Notes: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—remote witnessing of Wills [ARCHIVED] and Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Wills [ARCHIVED]. Even though the instructions to draft a Will may appear to indicate that only

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a thematic note comparing provisioning practices in the US and the EU during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including differences in the macroeconomic impact of coronavirus, in banks’ loan portfolios, and in accounting rules that might explain why the cost of risk (CoR) of US banks was much higher compared to their EU peers in the first half of 2020 and fell at a faster pace afterwards.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Advice for Tier 2, 4 and 5 visa sponsors in the UK who are sponsoring those affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) has been published by the Home Office. The guidance, originally published on 27 March 2020 and being kept under constant review and regularly updated, includes advice regarding reporting requirements for absences of international students or migrant workers due to coronavirus; distance learning for international students; working from home arrangements for migrant workers; and submission by sponsors of scanned documents. For further information, see LNB News 27/03/2020 67 and LNB News 03/06/2020 53. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has also published guidance for seasonal agricultural workers coming to England to work on farms and their employers amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For further information, see LNB News 04/06/2020 56. Until 30 November 2020 the system by which non-EEA nationals were able to come to work in the UK was points-based and had five tiers: • tier 1: graduate entrepreneurs and investors • tier 2: skilled workers

It is unclear from the question how the charity is constituted. For the purposes of this response we have assumed that it is either a private company limited by guarantee or a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) (as described in Practice Note: Charities—governing documents). In the case of the CIO, it has been further assumed that the ‘foundation’ model of CIO has been adopted, which