By The Insurance and Risk Team
This edition of the NZ Insurance Bulletin includes an overview of recent cases and developments relevant to the insurance industry.
The Bulletin features the following articles:
Interpretation of an Exclusion Clause
By Grant MacDonald and Monique Van
Bellen
In Trustees Executors Limited v QBE Insurance (International)
Limited (HC Auckland, CIV 2009-404-1165), the High Court was asked
to interpret the Securities Exclusion in QBE's policy. This
decision is a good example of the High Court applying the plain and
ordinary meaning of words and not artificially reading down an
exclusion clause.
Update on the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill
By Crossley Gates and Peter
Leman.
The Government introduced the Insurance (Prudential Supervision)
Bill (Bill) into Parliament in late October 2009. The Bill
contained numerous changes arising out of the Reserve Bank
consultation process. In this article we look at the key changes,
many of which have seen an improvement to the proposed
legislation
What amounts to 'damage'?
By Monique Van Bellen and Crossley
Gates
In a leading New Zealand authority, the High Court in Technology
Holdings Limited v IAG New Zealand (HC Auckland, CIV-2005-404-3450)
defined 'damage' in response to the question of whether
there had been 'loss or damage' to the property of
Technology Holdings Limited.
Supreme Court rules on limited liability regime for New Zealand domestic carriers
By Neil Beadle
The strict liability/package limitation regime for domestic
carriage in New Zealand limits liability to NZ$1,500 per 'unit
of goods'. In Ports of Auckland Limited v Southpac Trucks Ltd
[2009] NZSC 112 the Supreme Court has considered the application of
the regime under the Carriage of Goods Act 1979 and overturned an
earlier decision by the Court of Appeal. As a result,
Southpac's recovery of some NZ$60,000 was reversed, to be
replaced by the NZ$1,500 package limit.
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