An insurer's admission of liability under s 81 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW) does not preclude the insurer from filing a defence denying liability in subsequent court proceedings. The admission has no greater status in litigation than any other out-of-court admission and operates as an item of evidence that may be qualified or explained away. A plaintiff disadvantaged by the prior admission must plead estoppel in reply rather than seeking to strike out the defence. The decisions in Ness v Graffen, Leaf v Boral Transport Ltd, and Hannaford v Cochrane, which held that such admissions could only be departed from with leave of the court, are disapproved.
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