Simpson v Thorn Australia Pty Ltd trading as Radio Rentals (No 3) [2019] FCA 1179

Simpson v Thorn Australia Pty Ltd trading as Radio Rentals (No 3) [2019] FCA 1179

The agreed category of claims notification documents, extended to include documents created since the end of the Discovery Period, was sufficient to address the applicant's concerns about what had been claimed or notified and possible admissions. The applicant did not establish that the broader proposed categories, particularly documents concerning acceptance or denial of indemnity and insurer response steps, were likely to be directly relevant to construction of the insurance policies or other pleaded issues.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
02 August 2019
Procedural Posture
Practice and Procedure Application for Discovery Against Insurer / Application for Non Standard Discovery
Outcome
Application granted in part.
Legal Topics
['discovery' 'non Standard Discovery' 'discovery by Categories of Documents' 'insurance Claims Notification Documents' 'construction of Insurance Policies']
['practice and Procedure' 'insurance' 'civil Procedure'] ['discovery' 'non Standard Discovery' 'discovery by Categories of Documents' 'insurance Claims Notification Documents' 'construction of Insurance Policies']

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Procedural Posture

Practice and Procedure Application for Discovery Against Insurer / Application for Non Standard Discovery

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether AIG should be ordered to give discovery of the applicant's proposed categories of documents from the insurer." 'Whether documents concerning claims, notifications, indemnity decisions and insurer response steps were likely to be directly relevant to the issues raised by the pleadings.' 'Whether conduct before and after the making of insurance policies is relevant to the proper construction of the policies.']

Ratio Decidendi

The agreed category of claims notification documents, extended to include documents created since the end of the Discovery Period, was sufficient to address the applicant's concerns about what had been claimed or notified and possible admissions. The applicant did not establish that the broader proposed categories, particularly documents concerning acceptance or denial of indemnity and insurer response steps, were likely to be directly relevant to construction of the insurance policies or other pleaded issues.

Court Disposition

Application granted in part.

Orders

  • ['By 14 August 2019, the third respondent give discovery of all documents created since 28 March 2011 evidencing or recording any claims made against Thorn, its directors or officers including the second respondent, notified to the third respondent under the Professional Indemnity Policy or the D&O Policy including...