Description
In A Claim Governed By Guernsey Law, An Employers' Liability Insurer Was Only Liable To Indemnify Employer For The Proportion Of Employee's Employment Covered By Insurance Policy.
Cooke J was required to determine the scope of the Defendant insurer's liability to the Claimant employer and who was insured by the Defendant under an employer's liability insurance policy in respect of an employee who had contracted mesothelioma and subsequently died. The employee had been employed by the Claimant for 27 years. The issue was whether the Defendant was required to indemnify the Claimant for the entirety of its outlay in settling the employee's claim or whether its liability to indemnify should be limited only to a proportion corresponding to the duration of the insurance policy, being 6 years. The insurance policy was governed by Guernsey Law. Cooke J held that as the provisions of the Compensation Act 2006 did not apply, the Defendant was only liable to indemnify the Claimant limited to the proportion of the employee's employment covered by its policy of employers' liability insurance. Such a decision was consistent with the common law principles propounded in Barker v. Corus U K Ltd [2006] 1 A.C. 572, the effect of which the Compensation Act 2006 had sought to reverse.
