Property and ISR

Wotton + Kearney has unequalled experience in providing advice to insurers of Industrial Special Risks, Advanced Loss of Profits, Machinery/ Engineering and Commercial Property Package policies.  We receive instructions from a wide range of insurers writing commercial property business in Australia as well as offshore insurers involved in global accounts.

We are regularly retained in resolving contested claims (litigated and non-litigated) which involve technical legal issues of policy interpretation.  Wotton + Kearney's ISR specialists pride themselves on knowing the intricacies of such policies, especially those more commonly used in the Australian Market.

We pride ourselves on providing clear and careful analysis of the relevant incident in a manner which enables insurers to understand the issues and to progress the claims made on property insurance policies.  We also regularly provide advice on potential third party recoveries.

Examples of the work that our team of experienced lawyers have recently undertaken include:

• advising on claims for property damage and business interruption losses arising from the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009;
• advising on material damage and business interruption losses arising from the Queensland floods in 2008;
• advising on claims for business interruption arising out of the Varanus Island gas explosion in 2008;
• advising on a material damage and business interruption claim for more than $350 million from a major fire at a copper and uranium processing plant in central Australia;
• advising on a material damage and business interruption claim for several hundred million dollars arising out of an explosion and fire at a major gas producing plant in central Australia and providing further advice on potential subrogated recoveries;
• acting for property insurers with respect to fire claims in which arson/fraud has been suspected;
• acting for local and international re-insurers with respect to the operation of the machinery breakdown component of a global property package scheme from a cobalt mine in Uganda;
• advising on business interruption claims by an international hotel chain for losses in excess of HK$300 million arising from the SARS outbreak; and
• advising with respect to a claim in excess of US$110 million under an advanced loss of profits policy arising out of the failure of piles constructed to support a printing mill in Malaysia.

Some recent reported cases which we have been involved in include:

• Allstate Explorations (NL) and Ors v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2007] VSC 380 
• Wollongong City Council v Vero Insurance Limited [2009] NSWSC 475

For more information on Wotton + Kearney's Property and ISR experience please contact:

phillip.wotton@wottonkearney.com.au
andrew.moore@wottonkearney.com.au