FCA v Arch Insurance – the Supreme Court’s view

Clare Baker summarises the judgment from the Supreme Court in FCA v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 1 and explores the next steps for policyholders.

In the last edition of this newsletter, Clare Baker discussed the High Court’s judgment in the business interruption insurance test case brought by the FCA on behalf of policyholders affected by the COVID-19 outbreak which can be read here. The judgment was broadly favourable to the FCA (and therefore policyholders) although it did not find that the defendant insurers were liable across all of the sample policy wording.

Both sides appealed parts of the judgment using the “leapfrog” procedure and the Supreme Court heard the appeals from 16-19 November 2020 by video link.  The Court handed down its judgment on 15 January 2021.  The judgment substantially allowed the FCA’s appeal and dismissed the insurers’ appeals.

A short summary of the judgment and next steps for policyholders are discussed in Clare’s article here.

About the author

Clare Baker is an experienced junior specialising in financial services, banking, commercial and insurance law. Clare advises on general commercial issues, including confidentiality and data protection, public procurement (including the operation of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015), compliance with various regulatory frameworks, and jurisdictional/cross-border issues.  She also regularly advises on insurance law.

Find out more

If you would like to discuss any of the issues covered in this article please contact Clare directly or via her practice management team; Matt Sale +44 (0)20 7427 4910 or Peter Foad +44 (0)20 7427 0807.

Legal Blogs 11 Mar, 2021