Insurance & Reinsurance
Legal advice for the most significant events impacting insurance and reinsurance
Our insurance and reinsurance practice is recognised internationally as an industry leader, providing first-class advisory and dispute resolution legal services to the insurance sector including insurers, reinsurers, policyholders, brokers, financiers and other intermediaries. Our leading insurance and reinsurance team comprises over 20 partners and 50 lawyers operating seamlessly and collaboratively throughout our international network of offices. Due to our global reach and specialist local knowledge, we can support our clients on the most complex multi-jurisdictional matters wherever they are in the world.
We are recognised "as renowned (and deservedly so) specialists in insurance and reinsurance" by Legal 500 2023 who go on to say that we "fight a client’s corner very hard, but not at a disproportionate cost.” Chambers UK 2023 call us "subject matter experts with a wealth of experience".
Dispute Resolution
Our specialist dispute resolution team covers litigation, arbitration and all other forms of alternative dispute resolution in relation to contentious claims. Always motivated by our clients' desire for commercial success, we provide our clients with the highest quality legal support at every stage until a satisfactory solution is achieved.
We offer an unparalleled depth of coverage and defence capabilities across most lines of insurance and reinsurance. We specialise in high value and complex losses.
We can help with
- Construction
- Energy (Onshore/Offshore)
- Financial Institutions (FIPI, D&O)
- Income protection
- Legacy (short- and long-tail)
- Life
- Management Liability (D&O, Fiduciary Liability)
- Marine Insurance
- Medical Expenses
- Personal Accident
- Political Risk/Trade Credit
- Professional Indemnity
- Property/BI/CBI
- Reinsurance (traditional, ILW,ILS)
- Specialty (specie, fine art, jeweller's block, cancellation)
- TMT/IPR/Cyber risks
- War & Terrorism
- Insurance Transactions and Regulation
Below are just a few examples of our dispute resolution work highlights.
- Acting for Reinsurers in USD170 million arbitration following losses sustained by global retailer during riots in Chile in 2019
- Acting for Reinsurers in connection with liability claims against a Mexican state electricity enterprise valued at USD65 million
- Advising Graff Diamonds Limited on a USD7.5 million cyber ransom claim following a cyber extortion from the Russian ransomware group Conti
- Acting for a large broker in relation to matters relating to Greensill
- Acting for reinsureds on numerous high value Covid-19 Cat reinsurance claims
- Acting for a major insurer on its UK Covid-19 claims
- Acting for the claimants in a USD30 million claim against its insurers for indemnity under an offshore construction all risks insurance following damage to a wellhead platform offshore Saudi Arabia. The matter involved a number of complex and technical coverage arguments and is one of the first cases to be heard in the English courts relating to the WELCAR form
- Acting for the captive insurer of a major Latin American petroleum company in two complex coverage disputes against reinsurers following two separate total losses of offshore platforms following explosions in Mexico, with claims of USD1.3 billion and USD300 million
- Acting for PAR and liability insurers and reinsurers in relation numerous tall tower fires in the UAE, including a significant fire at a hotel in Dubai on NYE 2015
- Acting for insurers and reinsurers under a CAR policy in relation to a major fire during the construction of a prestigious hospital project in Kuwait
- Acting for numerous financiers in claims under trade credit and trade finance policies (in the Middle East, Far East and Western Europe)
- Acting for insurers in Covid-19 claims under various policies (PAR, Hotel Comprehensive, Workmen's Compensation) across the GCC
- Acting in and advising on various cedant-reinsurance disputes (PAR, Product Liability, Health, Life) in UAE and KSA
- Acting for and advising various organisations regarding cyber security and data privacy within GCC
- Representing insurers in numerous catastrophic third-party litigations throughout the United States with settlement demands exceeding $1 billion
- Acting for aviation insurers and reinsurers in relation to multiple complex coverage proceedings in the English Commercial Court, arising out of failure by Russian airlines to return leased aircraft to lessors following the imposition of sanctions as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Transactions and Regulation
We have a dedicated insurance transactions and regulatory team providing support at all stages of our clients' business cycle and with a reputation for delivering results in technically challenging circumstances. Our specialist team, headed by Ashwani Kochhar, along with Bob Haken and William Reddie, has over 25 years of experience advising the London and international insurance and reinsurance markets, coupled with extensive industry knowledge gained in-house and at the UK regulator.
Legal 500 2023 says that we are "excellent in relation to legal and regulatory matters" and our "positive outgoing personalities make [us] stand out over competitors." Chambers UK 2023 acknowledges that we have "a great team from partners to associates [who] are totally immersed in the market and always ready to engage” and that “complex work is attended to quickly, thoroughly and effectively.”
We are known for our strong Lloyd's market practice and legal expertise in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, complex reinsurance transactions, insurtech products and Part VII transfers.
We can help with
- Mergers, Acquisitions and Asset Purchase Transactions
- Capital and Debt Raising
- New Product Development and Policy Drafting across all business lines
- Complex Risk Transfer Transactions
- Insurance Regulation
- Commercial Agreements
- Restructuring and Run-off
- Life Insurance
- Tax
Below are just a few examples of our insurance transactions and regulatory work highlights.
- Advising Standard Club on its £750 million merger with North of England P&I Club
- Advising Markerstudy on its sale to OneFamily of Beagle Street, the life and critical illness business of BGL Insurance, following Markerstudy's acquisition of BGL Insurance in 2022
- Advising Britannia P&I club on the transfer, by way of a Part VII transfer, of its entire business to an associated entity as part of its Brexit strategy
- Advising an international insurer on its upcoming application for authorisation under Part 4A FSMA for its UK branch, and advising on the requirements and guidance (across most areas of the UK insurance regulatory framework) issued by the UK regulators post-Brexit
- Advising the shareholders of Direct Commercial Lines and Carraig Insurance Company, specialists in haulage and fleet insurance, on the sale to private equity firm, CBPE
- Advising managing agents on a number of acquisitions of business portfolios, by way of RITC
- Advising on the design and launch of innovative new insurance products, and on the corporate and regulatory structure underpinning the launch of the products
- Advising Middle Eastern multilaterals and banks on the efficacy of Basel II/III insurance products for unfunded credit risk mitigation
