Selected Seeds P/L v QBEMM P/L & Anor

[2009] QSC 70

Supreme Court of Queensland

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Insurance
2. › General insurance
3. › Public liability insurance
4. › Construction of policy
5. › Insuring clause
6. › Meaning of 'Occurrence'
7. › Whether supply of seed or planting of seed was the relevant occurrence
8. › Whether occurrence can cause instantaneous property damage
9. › Causal connection between occurrence and property damage
1. Insurance
2. › General insurance
3. › Public liability insurance
4. › Construction of policy
5. › Exclusion clauses
6. › Efficacy exclusion
7. › Failure of product to fulfil intended use or function
8. › Whether liability arose from failure of product or from damage done by product to property
1. Insurance
2. › General insurance
3. › Public liability insurance
4. › Construction of policy
5. › Defence costs
6. › Obligation to reimburse costs and expenses
7. › Whether claim seeking damages on account of property damage existed prior to amendment of pleadings

Quick Take

In public liability insurance, the 'Occurrence' causing property damage is the proximate event leading to the damage, not a remote link in the chain of causation; a 'but for' test is insufficient. The efficacy exclusion (excluding liability for failure of a product to fulfil its intended use) does not apply where the insured's liability is for damage done to property by the product, as distinct from the product's failure to achieve its intended purpose. An insurer's letter advising the insured to engage its own lawyers pending determination of indemnity constitutes consent to the incurring of defence costs.