South Africa and global insurance, financial institutions, banking and general law know–how
The prescribed rate of interest is 10.5% per annum with effect from 1 October 2025. The previous rate was 10.75% per annum.
According to the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, interest on debts where no rate is prescribed is calculated at the repo rate plus 3.5%. The prescribed rate of interest applies to all debts…
In an appeal against a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment imposed on a first offender convicted of fraud involving over R10.6 million, the accused urged the court to impose a non-custodial sentence. The Supreme Court of Appeal in a September 2025 judgment quoted the following telling remarks from a year-2000 decision in S v Sadler:…
A September 2025 decision in a Massachusetts Appeal Court found that an “occurrence” connotes a relatively concrete, timebound quality. The insured company supplied defective oil to customers over a long period of time which led to damage to the customers’ heating equipment and a class action.
There was no cover unless the insured knew that…
In September 2025, a US State Court of Appeals held that cover under an Equipment Breakdown policy that included an “extra expense” provision covered additional audit fees incurred during the restoration period of the data lost by the insured even after the end of the policy period.
The insured experienced a power surge at its…
Whiskey lovers will be distraught reading the facts of this case.
The insured plaintiff was the distiller of American single malt whiskey, which it placed in barrels to age for 3 to 4 years. The barrels were stored on metal racks in the distillery.
Racks that were holding dozens of barrels of whiskey that had…
In September 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that On The Road fees added by dealers to the purchase price of vehicles sold by them are part of the transaction between the dealer and the consumer. OTR fees may be included as part of the principal debt under the ensuing credit agreement between the…
In September 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal found that extinctive prescription only begins to run on a contractual claim once a suspensive condition is fulfilled and not from the date of signature of the agreement.
The respondent trust purchased a property from the appellant subject to a suspensive condition requiring the consent of the…
In September 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a welcome judgment describing clearly the differences between types of cessions in security of a debt (in securitatem debiti) and an out-and-out cession permanently divesting the cedent of all rights in an insurance policy.
The deceased, in relation to a property transaction, agreed to…
In September 2025, a New York Supreme Court held that a sublimit of insurance was not reduced by the $100 000 retention which was called in the policy a “self-insured retention”.
The events were covered for $200 000 “any one occurrence”. The court held that the language of the policy was not ambiguous. A self-insured retention is…
When participating in online gambling a claimant was required to perform a click-wrap procedure confirming that she had read and agreed to be bound by the three sets of terms and conditions which, one way or another, were accessible by a series of hyperlinks or drop-down menus. The player would need to read about and…
