New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Aggregation clause

Legal area

Court

13 Nov 2020

IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED v GRAEME JOHN MOORE [2020] NZSC 122

Citation

[2020] NZSC 122
Court

Supreme Court

Leave to appeal was dismissed because any legal error by the Court of Appeal on the interpretation of 'series' or 'same cause' would not alter the outcome absent overturning the Court of Appeal's factual finding that the events did not have the same (proximate) cause; resolving the dispute would require re‑engagement with expert factual evidence and therefore is not in the interests of justice to grant leave.
31 Jul 2020

MOORE v IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2020] NZCA 319

Citation

[2020] NZCA 319
Court

Court of Appeal

An aggregation clause groups losses only where there is a linked sequence of sudden accidental losses occurring in temporal proximity and caused by a series of events sharing the same proximate cause; a broad 'but for' causal link is insufficient. Two earthquakes four months apart causing separate sudden losses were not a "series of losses" caused by a series of events with the same proximate cause, so each loss is subject to its own sum insured limit.
3 Jul 2019

MOORE v IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2019] NZHC 1549

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1549
Court

High Court

The words 'the same cause' in the policy require a proximate/direct cause of the events. On the uncontested seismological evidence (probability ≥97%) the 4 September 2010 earthquake was the proximate trigger for the February and June 2011 earthquakes so they had 'the same cause' for the purposes of the aggregation clause; accordingly the losses from both events are aggregated and the insurer's liability is limited to the policy sum insured.

New Zealand Case Law

IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED v GRAEME JOHN MOORE [2020] NZSC 122

MOORE v IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2020] NZCA 319

MOORE v IAG NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2019] NZHC 1549