When privacy gives way to expediency are insurance arrangements still private? ask Melanie Ryan &
Jehan-Philippe Wood
A recent judgment of the Technology and Construction Court in the Westmill Landfill Group Litigation ordered the claimants to disclose to the defendant their after-the-event (ATE) insurance policy, which they had purchased to cover any potential costs liability in the proceedings. While the court was keen to emphasise that the decision was reached on its own facts, some will see this as a further significant inroad into the traditional principle that insurance policies are private and not disclosable in legal proceedings.
Background
In Barr & Others v Biffa Waste Services Limited [2009] EWHC 1033 (TCC), [2009] All ER (D) 218 (May) around 140 residents of a housing estate in Westmill, Hertfordshire, brought claims in nuisance and negligence against the waste contractor, Biffa Waste Services Ltd (Biffa), in connection with alleged odour omissions arising from a nearby landfill site.
The claimants sought a Group Litigation Order (GLO) in support of which they agreed a conditional fee arrangement with their solicitors and purchased ATE insurance. In their pre‑action correspondence,
