Jonathan Bruce
Partner
About Jonathan
Jonathan is a Partner in HFW’s Insurance and Reinsurance team, with a specialism in energy, property, marine insurance and reinsurance, and shipping. He represents a wide range of clients including insurers, reinsurers, policyholders, shipowners, brokers, and surveyors. His international practice spans Latin America, the USA, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australasia. Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.Â
Jonathan handles coverage disputes and subrogation claims across a wide range of sectors including marine, offshore and onshore energy, renewables, mining, smelting, hospitality, and financial lines. His work includes property damage, business interruption, pollution, liability/casualty CAR, DSU and Control of Well, in both onshore and offshore energy, including construction / Welcar. His experience extends also to the powergen, wind farm, renewables, mining, smelting, general industrial and SME/hospitality sectors, as well as trade credit / political risk / D&O / financial lines.
In relation to marine insurance, he deals with claims involving hull damage, collisions, pollution, cargo contamination, builder’s risk, war risks, and port operations. He is experienced in charterparty and bills of lading disputes. Jonathan regularly acts in mediations, arbitrations, and court proceedings in the UK and internationally, and provides guidance on policy wordings and insurance programme structures.Â
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Jonathan has extensive experience in disputed insurance claims, having handled many of the most complex and high-profile losses globally over the past three decades. His work spans incidents such as offshore platform explosions in Mexico and Brazil, pipeline and subsea damage across the North Sea, Middle East, and Asia, and war risk claims involving vessel confiscations and cargoes stranded in Ukraine. He has managed property damage and business interruption claims from power station failures, refinery incidents, and natural disasters, including hurricanes and cyclones. His portfolio also includes terrorism claims, political risk disputes, and trade credit losses. Jonathan has dealt with infrastructure failures like tunnel collapses, dam failures, and crane accidents, as well as marine losses involving vessel detentions, cargo contamination, and misappropriation. His involvement in the FCA Covid BI litigation and other major cases highlights his deep expertise in navigating complex insurance disputes across jurisdictions and sectors.