Abstract

Article

Discovery of Information in the Insurer’s Possession

In suitable circumstances, an insurer may be required to discover to its insured internal documents which may reveal its recognition, from facts notified to it by the insured, of the potential for a claim against the insured for the purpose of ss. 14, 40(3) and 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth), going respectively to the issues of the insurer’s utmost good faith in declining cover, knowledge from the insured’s reported circumstances of the potential of a claim, and the existence or otherwise of prejudice from the absence from a specific notification within the policy period of a potential for a claim. Discussion as to whether the breadth of the particular request for discovery was oppressive.  Darshn v Avant Insurance Limited [2021] FCA 232