Betesh Partnership Litigation, acted under a “No Win, No Fee Agreement” on behalf of a Claimant family business who suffered a substantial fire at the business premises. The insurance company paid out in accordance with the terms of the policy but because the family had under insured their business by a very large margin the insurer applied a discount to the amount that they would pay out under the policy. This meant that the family business was simply unable to rebuild the premises, Harry Lipson acted quickly to obtain the broker’s file of papers and immediately recognised that the advice given fell far short of what was required.

A Claim was issued against the broker to recover the loss arising from the under insurance and also the losses arising from insufficient business interruption cover. The broker defended the action on several grounds which included an allegation that the Claimants were experienced business professionals and knew that they were under insured and knowingly assumed the risk of under insurance to save on premiums.

The issues in the case were such that the matter was listed for a 4 week trial in the Commercial Court, however following the exchange of witness evidence andexpert evidence the Defendant recognised the difficulties in the case and the parties attended formal mediation which resulted in a very successful 7 figure settlement.

Written by Kate Irvine. Contact Kate.

Kate Irvine - Associate