When to tell the insurers; getting police to pay for Green Book loss; mobile home owners celebrate; & new rules, old PD.
TROUBLING INSURERS
‘The insured shall give notice in writing to the insurer as soon as possible after the occurrence of any event likely to give rise to a claim with full particulars thereof. The insured shall also on receiving verbal or written notice of any claim intimated send same or a copy thereof immediately to the insurer and shall give all necessary information and assistance.’ That was the crunch condition in a combined public and products liability policy in Zurich Insurance PLC v Maccaferri Limited [2016] EWCA Civ 1302. Maccaferri was after an indemnity under the policy for damages payable to a third party. Zurich sought to avoid liability on the ground that the condition had been breached. It claimed that notification had been too late—around two years after equipment supplied by Maccaferri had led to an industrial accident.
Zurich argued that the condition meant that, even if notification was well after the event, Maccaferri was obliged to tell of the event when it
