Donald Dinnie

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Defences to liability for dog bites

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
The owner of a dog that attacks a person who neither provoked the attack nor by their negligence directly caused their own injury is liable, as owner, to make good the resultant damages. Based on Roman law, for nearly 200 years the law in South Africa has been accepted that owners of animals are strictly … Continue reading

Fraudulent insurance claim denied

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
The insured, in an Israeli Supreme Court case, claimed under a jewellers block policy alleging he had been a victim of a violent robbery in which diamonds and cash worth approximately $11 million had been stolen. The evidence established that diamonds worth about $6 million of the claim were in the insured’s stock and had … Continue reading

Arbitration clauses usually do not survive termination of contract for fraud

Donald DinniePatrick Bracher (ZA)By Donald Dinnie and Patrick Bracher (ZA) on Posted in General
An arbitration or similar adjudication clause, contained in an agreement that is found to have been induced by fraud, does not survive the avoidance of the agreement. That would be offensive to justice. The position can only change if the parties specifically make provision in their contract for a dispute regarding fraud, misrepresentation or concealment … Continue reading

COVID-19, business interruption and physical damage

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
In South Africa and the United Kingdom, coronavirus coverage disputes are centring around the interpretation of various non-damage extensions provided under the policy’s business interruption section. In North America, both in Canada and the United States, the focus has been whether COVID-19 caused direct physical loss or damage to the insured property triggering business interruption … Continue reading

Interpreting insurance contracts: a refresher (part 2)

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
An insurance contract is presumed to require that the insured peril must be the proximate cause of the insured’s loss (see Incorporated General Insurance Ltd v A.R. Shooter trading as Shooter’s Fisheries 1987). Causation involves two distinct enquiries namely factual causation and then legal causation. The test for factual causation is generally described as the … Continue reading

Interpreting insurance contracts: a refresher (part 1)

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
The Supreme Court of Appeal judgment of Centriq Insurance Company Limited and Oosthuizen contains a useful summary of the general principles of interpretation of insurance policies and other contracts: Insurance policies are contracts like any other. Contract provisions must be construed having regard to their language, context and purpose in what is a unitary exercise. … Continue reading

Condonation granted where no prejudice proved

Rethabile ShabalalaDonald DinnieBy Rethabile Shabalala and Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
A plaintiff who suffers damage usually has 3 years within which to sue the defendant. But a claim against the State must be notified within 6 months of an incident occurring. This notification comes before the summons is served. If a claim is not notified within this time period (set out in the Institution of … Continue reading

Deciding between mutually destructive versions of oral agreement

Hishaam KhanDonald DinnieBy Hishaam Khan and Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
Where there are mutually destructive versions of an oral agreement, a court will side with the version which is more probable considering the circumstances. The credibility of witnesses, including whether their evidence is coherent and consistent, will be taken into account. The applicant in Meintjies v Annandale and another, an owner of an accounting business … Continue reading

You can’t take judicial notice of the behaviour of kudus – need expert evidence

Rethabile ShabalalaDonald DinnieBy Rethabile Shabalala and Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
Is the behaviour of kudus so clearly established and common knowledge or so easily ascertainable that it does not require evidence to be proved? No. A trial court’s decision to take judicial notice of the behaviour and reaction of kudus was overturned on appeal. A court takes judicial notice of a fact without hearing evidence … Continue reading

COVID-19 and the insurance market

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
Have a listen to my podcast discussion with the editor of Cover magazine on the potential implications of COVID-19 on the insurance industry in South Africa. We discuss business interruption insurance, liability insurance, event cancellations and travel insurance. Where to start in evaluating insurance exposure for brokers, insurers and reinsurers is covered. Traditional business interruption … Continue reading

Effect of invalid clause within lease agreement

Hishaam KhanDonald DinnieBy Hishaam Khan and Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
The Supreme Court of Appeal held in March 2020 that an invalid clause in a lease does not necessarily result in the unenforceability of the entire agreement. Two parties entered into an agreement in terms of which the lessor let the premises to the lessee for a period of ten years and three months. The … Continue reading

‘Occurrence’ in insurance policies

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
The test enunciated by the English court in Kuwait Airways Corporation v Kuwait Insurance Co [1996] 1 Lloyds Rep 664, confirmed in Mann and Another v Lexington Insurance Company [2000] is no different in South African law. “An ‘occurrence’ (which is not materially different from an event or happening, unless perchance the contractual context requires … Continue reading

The Big Read Book series – Volume 4

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
Norton Rose Fulbright’s collection of South African insurance judgments for 2019 is now available here. 2019 saw a limited number of insurance disputes determined by way of litigation. The various alternative dispute resolution mechanisms used by the insurance industry continue to function well and deliver a tremendous service to insured and insurer alike. Volume 4 of … Continue reading

Insurance claims and COVID-19

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
If you haven’t already dusted off the business interruption, liability and event cancellation policies you have underwritten, or placed for an insured, and checked for coronavirus coverage, now is the time to do so. Exposure and benefits of both business interruption coverage (covering the insureds losses from an abrupt shutdown) and contingent business interruption coverage … Continue reading

Interpretation of an EAR Policy’s defect exclusion clause

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in Insurance
A Greek appeal court was recently called upon to interpret the exclusion under the Contractors’ Erection All Risks Policy which read: “the insurer shall not Indemnify the Insured for … The cost of replacement, repair or rectification of loss due to defective material and/or workmanship. This exclusion shall be limited to the insured items directly … Continue reading

Disclaimers and the Consumer Protection Act

Donald DinnieBy Donald Dinnie on Posted in General
For the first time, a South African court in Van Wyk v UPS dealt with the application of the Consumer Protection Act to disclaimer clauses in a contract. On the facts, the court applied sections 22, 49 and 52 to sever from the agreement the specific clauses on which the defendant sought to escape liability … Continue reading
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