Perils: Property insurance claims newsletter, January 2026
Welcome to the January edition of Perils. In this edition, we consider recent cases and related topics of interest for those involved in handling property and business interruption (BI) claims.
From marine insurance pay-first clauses and domestic property misrepresentation disputes to housing warranty coverage for cladding defects, environmental nuisance litigation and parent company liability for catastrophic failures, this edition covers the critical issues shaping insurance coverage.
The MS Amlin Marine decision provides valuable guidance on how courts reconcile policy terms that appear to conflict, with principles extending well beyond marine insurance to property damage and liability policies. Meanwhile, the Bellhouse case raises important questions about attribution of misrepresentation where insurers themselves complete proposal forms with assumptions – a scenario increasingly common in digital insurance platforms.
The Vivid Housing judgment offers crucial clarity on what constitutes "imminent" damage in the context of fire safety defects, adopting a commercially sensible approach that recognises the constant nature of fire risk. The Andrews nuisance case demonstrates the high threshold claimants must meet to establish substantial interference, whilst highlighting the courts' scrutiny of expert evidence quality. Finally, the Município de Mariana decision serves as a stark reminder of the liability risks facing parent companies that assume operational control and risk management responsibilities for their subsidiaries.
I hope you find this edition interesting and insightful. If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised in this edition, please do get in touch.
Contents
- Bellhouse v Zurich: Testing the limits of insurer assumptions under CIDRA
- Vivid Housing v Allianz: Interpreting imminent threat in warranty insurance claims
- When does dust, odour and noise become 'nuisance'? Insights from Andrews v Krononspan
- MS Amlin Marine NV v King Trader Ltd: Policy interpretation guide
- Município de Mariana v BHP Group (UK) Ltd: Liability and risk
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