Insurance

Our lawyers are experienced in all aspects of insurance law including establishing or acquiring an insurance business, portfolio transfers, product and regulatory advice, claims management and litigation.

We advise on policy drafting, policy interpretation and indemnity issues and the inter-relation between insurance clauses, warranties and indemnities in transactional documents. Corporate and public sector clients also look to us for advice on their insurance and risk programs.

Our clients include Major Australian and international insurers, corporates and the public sector.

What the market says

"Henry Davis York's corporate insurance team are among the strongest going around the market today".
Andrew Goldstein, senior legal manager, Financial Services Group, Macquarie Bank Limited

Our risk and insurance expertise includes:

• directors & officers/company reimbursement
• professional indemnity
• public and product liability
• product recall
• property insurance, including ISR and construction works
• life insurance, income protection and disability
• superannuation trustee liability
• crime and fidelity
• reinsurance.

MMC Contrarian

Henry Davis York helped MMC Contrarian through every stage of its A$195 million acquisition of the MBF Life and the Clearview Retirement Solutions businesses from Bupa Australia.

A vital part of our role was to ensure that the market regulator, APRA, was comfortable with the application process as well as the parties to the application. Our experts helped MMC Contrarian with its initial communications with APRA and continued with the drafting and filing of the regulatory applications required by the Financial Sector Shareholding Act 1998 and the Insurance Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1991.

MMC Contrarian praised Henry Davis York for our role in ensuring their business strategy was successfully embedded in the legal framework of the transaction.

Bank/Insurance

Henry Davis York advised a major financial institution on a range of insurance issues which included: reinsurance arrangements, notations and commutations, administration and service agreements, outsourcing arrangements, portfolio restructures and regulatory communications.

Enstar

We advised Enstar Australia and its related entity, Gordian Runoff Limited, on five Insurance Act 1973 portfolio transfers.

Our work involved:

• negotiating and drafting transfer and sale agreements, scheme documents and all other documents required by the Insurance Act
• instructing actuaries and counsel
• liaising and preparing regulatory applications for APRA
• preparing all court related materials for Federal Court applications

Residential mortgage insurance

We acted for one of Australia's largest residential mortgage providers on the review and restructuring of the lenders' mortgage insurance program. Our advice included a review of the banks' reinsurance program pertaining to the use of its captive insurance program.

Asbestos Litigation

We are acting for the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund Limited in relation to claims against the HIH scheme liquidators including novel proceedings pursuant to section 562A of the Corporations Act seeking payment of reinsurance proceeds.