Tag archives: Causation

Insurance, causation and a SASRIA peril

In this case  the insured sued the primary insurer and SASRIA in the alternative in seeking an indemnity for its underground mining earthmoving equipment irreparably damaged when the mine in which the equipment was operating was flooded. The primary policy excluded the SASRIA perils.  The SASRIA policy covered a labour unrest peril. The question was … Continue reading

Interpreting insurance contracts (part 7 – causation)

An insured loss must be caused legally and factually by the insured peril. Even where factual causation is established legal causation does not automatically follow. In Concord Insurance Co Limited v Oelofsen N.O. (1992) the court said that in the contractual context policy considerations do not enter the enquiry (unlike in criminal law or delict, … Continue reading

Your storekeeper’s duty of care

The High Court has held that the owner and manager of a supermarket negligently breached the duty of care it owed to a shopper who was injured trying to stop a loose rack from falling. The customer’s claim arose out of an incident in which he sustained a ruptured bicep when he was shopping at … Continue reading

Causation, the ‘but-for’ test and flexibility

A defendant is not liable unless their wrongful conduct in fact causes the claimant’s harm. The defendant is also not liable merely because their conduct in fact caused the claimant’s harm. There must be both factual and legal causation. The long accepted test of factual causation is the ‘but-for’ test. One asks whether the claimant’s … Continue reading

‘Arising out of or in connection with’ use of land in liability insurance exclusion

A New Zealand couple owned a farm in which they carried out farming activities and a landscaping business. They built and burned a fire heap on the property. Strong winds spread the embers and the fire spread rapidly onto nearby properties causing extensive damage. Their insurance policy excluded ‘legal liability arising out of or in … Continue reading

Operation of retroactive date

Where an insurance policy had a retroactive date so that there was no indemnity for any claim ‘arising from or in any way involving any act, error or omission committed’ prior to 5 June 2009, the court held that the indemnity was due because there was no direct or indirect causal connection between the events preceding … Continue reading
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