A successor in title who acquires a building with full knowledge of the existence, nature and extent of defects does not suffer 'loss' arising from breach of statutory warranty for the purposes of home warranty insurance under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW), because the knowing and deliberate act of acquisition constitutes a new and independent cause of harm. However, a policy exclusion for defects 'reasonably visible' at the time of acquisition is void as broader than what general causation principles achieve, because a successor may know of patent defects without appreciating the cost of remedying them. The word 'related' in cl 42(2)(d) of the Home Building Regulation 1997 is confined to the holding company/subsidiary relationship in s 50 of the Corporations Law.
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