What is a fair period for an insured to become barred from taking legal action against an insurer.

Many practitioners in general insurance felt that the Globe Church decision which found that the period started with the date of the initial damage, was unfair.

In a era of claims where some insurers take a delay, deny, defend approach, it could be years for a claim to be formally denied. For example, I am handling an earthquake claim from the 2021 Melbourne earthquake where every reason put forward by the Insurers engineer’s has been shown to be invalid but rather than accept the claim they now ask that the insured agree to have tests done on the building in summer and winter. This will delay a claim that is already a year old for another year.

Going to court is not something that the average insured wants to have to do and is usually only a last resort. If the claim process has been dragged out and the insured needs to find the funds to fight the case, then you can see how the Globe Church decision can really disadvantage an insured.

Well there is some light at the end of the tunnel as lawyer Anthony Valore from LMI Legal explains in his Case Note on Ali v Insurance Australia Ltd [2022] NSWCA 174. With his kind permission I attach a copy of this Case Note for your benefit.

If you have any questions on the case, by all means contact Anthony via email at [email protected]

I for one feel that this is much fairer.