Experienced in insurance dispute resolution when the financial protection and risk management you expected does not deliver.
It is very often of vital importance with insurance matters to notify your business insurers as soon as possible in relation to any potential issues. In relation to your underlying insurance claim under your relevant policy, you are likely to be obligated to notify your insurer as soon as you become aware of grounds that might reasonably give rise to a potential claim under the policy, and a failure to notify the insurer in a timely manner will often form the basis for an alleged denial of cover.
Equally, if your insurer has purported to deny cover for an insurance claim, or worse, has purported to void your entire insurance policy, it is important to make sure that you respond to any notice provided by your insurer within the stated timeframe, otherwise your right to appeal that decision could potentially be lost.
Getting early advice on the interpretation of your insurance policy is therefore normally the key to resolving insurance disputes quickly and effectively. Each insurance dispute will depend on applying the individual facts to the specific wording used in that particular insurance policy, so finding out where you stand as soon as possible is the most important first step towards resolving any potential insurance dispute.
If your insurance cover was arranged for you by an insurance broker (rather than by yourself liaising directly with the insurer), then you could potentially have a related Professional Negligence claim against your broker, if your broker negligently failed to obtain adequate and effective insurance cover for you, or otherwise provided you with negligent advice on the scope of the insurance cover being offered. Our Professional Nem can assist you with pursuing any such claims against negligent insurance brokers.
The rules regarding what information must be provided to an insurer when applying for insurance cover have been overhauled in recent years, and different rules apply to businesses and consumers. Businesses are now under a duty to provide ‘fair presentation’ of the risk to be insured, which will require a very fact-specific assessment to determine whether that duty has been met, and what the potential consequences of not meeting it may be.