UK COURT ADDRESSES INTERPRETATION OF REINSURANCE SLIP
In Mopani Copper Mines PLC v. Millenium Underwriting Limited [2008] EWHC 1331 (Comm. June 16, 2008), the UK Commercial Court determined that under appropriate circumstances it could consider words deleted from a reinsurance slip during the negotiation of its terms in interpreting the scope of coverage ultimately agreed to. The court held that it also could consider the circumstances surrounding the making of the contract, the intention of the parties to the contract, and the terms of a prior agreement, but that it would not consider the content of prior negotiations, communications between the insured and its broker which were not communicated to the reinsurers, and the subjective views of the parties as to what they thought they had achieved. This opinion contains an interesting discussion of the factors considered by English courts in the interpretation of reinsurance slips, and should be read by any of our readers who face such issues, or who enter into slips which may be subject to interpretation under English legal principles.
This post written by Rollie Goss.
