Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Australia Branch v SunWater Ltd (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1582

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Australia Branch v SunWater Ltd (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1582 Hearing dates: 15 & 16 November 2021 Decision date: 03 December 2021 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Stevenson J Decision: General Exclusion 8 engaged Catchwords: INSURANCE – General liability insurance – exclusions – proper construction of exclusion clause –indemnity claim arising out of class action concerning the 2011 Brisbane floods – exclusion for claims arising out of the rendering or a failure to render professional advice or service for a fee – whether insured itself or insured's employed engineer rendered professional service or advice – whether insured merely made employed engineer available – whether exclusion confined to rendering professional advice or service to the recipient or intended recipient of that advice or service – whether there is a material difference between an exclusion of a claim arising from a breach of professional duty or arising from the rendering of a professional advice or service Legislation Cited: Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 (Qld) Cases Cited: Australian Securities Commission v Marlborough Gold Mines Ltd (1993) 177 CLR 485; [1993] HCA 15 Chemetics International Ltd v Commercial Union Assurance Co of Canada (1984) 11 DLR (4th) 754 Darlington Futures Limited v Delco Australia Pty Limited (1986) 161 CLR 500; [1986] HCA 82 Drexel London (a firm) v Gove (Blackman) [2009] WASCA 181 Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd (2014) 251 CLR 640; [2014] HCA 7 Farah Constructions Pty Ltd v Say-Dee Pty Ltd (2007) 230 CLR 89; [2007] HCA 22 Fitzpatrick v Job t/as Jobs Engineering [2007] WASCA 63 Legal & General Insurance Australia Ltd v Eather (1986) 6 NSWLR 390 Limit (No 3) Ltd v ACE Insurance Ltd [2009] NSWSC 514 McCann v Switzerland Insurance Australia Ltd (2000) 203 CLR 579; [2000] HCA 65 North v Marina [2003] NSWSC 64 Rodriguez & Sons Pty Ltd v Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority t/as Seqwater (No 22) [2019] NSWSC 1657 Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd v Hall [2008] NSWCA 294 Vero Insurance Ltd v Power Technologies Pty Ltd [2007] NSWCA 226 Texts Cited: P Herzfeld and T Prince, Interpretation (2nd ed, 2020, Thomson Reuters) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Australia Branch (Plaintiff) Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's and Co-Insurers Subscribing to Policy Number 509/DR442210(2) (Second Plaintiff) SunWater Limited (First Defendant) Underwriting Members of Lloyd's Syndicate 0386 DAC (Second Defendant) QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited (Third Defendant) QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd (Fourth Defendant) Underwriting Members of Lloyd's Syndicate 1218 ODY (Fifth Defendant) Underwriting Members of Lloyd's Syndicate 2468 MFM (Sixth Defendant) Underwriting Members of Lloyd's Syndicate 1225 AES (Seventh Defendant) Representation: Counsel: M J Darke SC with G E S Ng and R A Jedrzejczyk (Plaintiff) J C Sheahan QC with N J Kidd SC and J Dooley (First Defendant) E C Muston SC with M F Newton (Second and Third Defendants)