Westport Insurance Corporation and Ors v. Gordian Runoff Limited

Lower Court Judgment

1/04/2010 Supreme Court of New South Wales (Court of Appeal)(Spigelman CJ, Allsop P and Macfarlan JA)

[2010] NSWCA 57

Catchwords

Insurance — Reinsurance — Application of Insurance Act 1902 (NSW) (“the Act”) s 18B to reinsurance contracts.

Arbitration — The award — Appeal or judicial review — Grounds for remitting or setting aside — Error of law or error in relation to mixed question of fact and law — Where arbitrators found existence of underlying insurance contract to be cause of respondent’s loss within meaning of s 18B(1) of the Act — Whether error of law or mixed error of fact and law to conclude that s 18B(1) of the Act had no application to reinsurance contract — Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 (NSW) ss 38(5)(b)(i) and 38(5)(b)(ii).

Arbitration — The award — Appeal or judicial review — Grounds for remitting or setting aside — Whether arbitrators gave adequate reasons for making the award — Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 (NSW) s 29(1).

Short Particulars