IUA Circular 042/12

MARKET BRIEFING

Coverage Issues Arising from the Christchurch Earthquakes

With
Grant Macdonald and Crossley Gates
DLA Phillips Fox, Auckland, New Zealand

Date: Wednesday 27th June 2012
Time: 12noon to 1pm
Venue: City Suite, Ground Floor, Apex Hotel, No 1 Seething Lane, London EC3
Subject:This market briefing will provide an overview of the complex coverage issues under property and loss of profits policies that have arisen from the Christchurch earthquakes.

This is a free event, but names and email addresses of all attendees are required for registration. IUA members can register online in the events section of this website.
Or contact Deborah Finch, IUA Events Co-ordinator.


New Zealand straddles the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates and records on average more than 14,000 tremors a year, of which about 20 would normally exceed magnitude 5.0. Recorded earthquakes in New Zealand since 1848, have been at over 6.3.

The Christchurch earthquakes have created unusual issues for underwriters due to the CBD (central business district) to be cordoned off from the public for over a year. The earthquakes have also caused serious damage to land as well as buildings and in addition there were two serious individual earthquakes which each caused separate losses.

This Market Briefing will provide attendees with a detailed understanding of the major coverage issues that have arisen including how the Business Interruption policy responds where damaged buildings are situated within the CBD cordoned area and will example application of Orient-Express Hotels Ltd decision. Our speakers will also highlight whether - and to what extent - the cost of new building code requirements is covered under the building policy and how losses are to be allocated between the separate earthquake events. In addition to this, the speakers will focus on how the Reinstatement of Sum Insured policy condition operates where both earthquakes occurred in the same policy period.

Our Speakers:
Grant Macdonald and Crossley Gates are partners in the New Zealand law firm of DLA Phillips Fox, which is a member firm of the DLA Piper Group. Between them, they have had over 50 years' specialist experience in insurance law. They act for many of the major underwriters in New Zealand and have been at the forefront of the coverage issues arising from the Christchurch earthquakes.

As a member of the CPD (Continuing Personal or Professional Development) Certification Service the IUA is committed to providing high quality training activities.
Our market briefing events are certified as being suitable for CPD purposes.
To obtain a self assessment form for any particular event please email deborah.finch@iua.co.uk.
For events held in the conference rooms at Balls Bros., Minster Pavement, Xchanging Conference Rooms or Baltic Exchange you will not require an entrance pass but we will require a note of your attendance for room capacity and catering requirements.