As thoughts turn to holidays, bear in mind the Court of Appeal decision in Nicholls v Mapfre
Writing in this week’s NLJ, Andrew Young, 3 Hare Court, analyses the outcome and reasoning in this case, which concerned a scooter accident and other torts in Spain followed by claims brought in England against Spanish insurance company Mapfre.
The question before the court was that of interest—under which jurisdictional regime was the applicable interest rate? Was it the higher rate stipulated by Spanish law, or the lower rate in England. The answer depended on whether the award of interest was substantive or procedural.
Young writes: ‘The effect of making an award of interest in accordance with the provisions of Spanish Act 50/1980 had been almost to double the overall value of the claims in those two cases in which the figures were disclosed.’
