Insights Categories: General Liability

At its simplest, a liability policy provides cover to an insured, whose acts and/or omissions cause property damage and/or personal injury to a third party. In many claims, determining whether there has been property damage will require nothing more than a cursory review of the allegations. In others, the enquiry can be far more complicated, as […]

SunWater Limited v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company [2022] NSWCA 273 Key takeaways Professional liability exclusions are not confined to claims brought by the rec mipient of the professional service or advice. A court may construe the professional liability exclusion more stringently where the insured can seek refuge under another policy. There are no special rules […]

Key takeaways For employers or principals, the benefit of following the 4Ps of safe working can never be under estimated: Plan, Prepare, Protect and Proceed. Confirmation of the premise that the principal or main contractors are not expected to supervise or have specialist knowledge of all the specialist trades working on a construction site at […]

Nikolich v Webb [2020] WASCA 169 (21 October 2020) Key takeaways Due to the operation of s 50 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA), there is no duty to warn of an obvious risk. The risk of slipping and falling on a wet bathroom floor where the floor is not uniquely slippery, is an […]

Key takeaways Insurer bears the onus of proof in establishing it can deny a claim due to non-disclosure. At inception, a policy must provide a clear and understandable duty of disclosure notice, in writing. Online policy application and acceptance provides unique challenges. Insurer needs to provide evidence that the insured failed to disclose relevant information. […]

Yeung v Santosa Realty Co Pty Ltd [2020] VSCA 7 Background On 19 May 2014, the plaintiff, a tenant of residential premises, slipped at night on back stairs that were worn, slippery, unlit and had no handrail. The tenant successfully brought proceedings for negligence in the County Court against the owner of the premises and […]

Article 1 of 3 – An Introduction In a series of upcoming articles, we will be providing: An overview of drone regulations and rules Licensing requirements for drone use A summary of the potential liabilities and penalties Information on what happens if injury is caused by an individual, state employee or commercial operator- does it […]

Key takeaways A deceased driver was found to have owed a duty to take reasonable care not to cause psychiatric injury to a policeman acting in the course of the performance of his duties who may be required to respond to an accident caused by their driving and who may witness the suffering and/or death […]

Refresher on damages for economic loss and domestic assistance where there are pre-existing conditions. Gulic v Angelovski[1] Facts  Mr Gulic was injured in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) in 2004.  In 2013, he commenced proceedings in the District Court of NSW at Sydney against separate firms of solicitors, alleging breach of duty by the solicitors […]

Since 1946 Section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 (‘Section 6’) has been the main vehicle through which claimants in New South Wales have gained direct access to the liability insurance policies of other persons. However, Section 6 has long been the subject of criticism from the bench, bar table and solicitors […]

There is good news and bad news about drones, as they become increasingly popular, says Peter Axelrod, Special Counsel at Meridian Lawyers, in Brisbane. He told an AILA Qld function late last year that drones would become smarter and more capable. “Just like iPhones, they will have more features, more autonomy and more performance.” He […]