Insurance Australia Limited v Maneas [2022] NSWSC 1672

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Insurance Australia Limited v Maneas [2022] NSWSC 1672 Hearing dates: 30 November 2022 Decision date: 08 December 2022 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Ball J Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiffs against the defendant in the sum of $8,687,491.33; (2) The defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings. Catchwords: INSURANCE — Where Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) issued unconditional bank guarantees in respect of construction contracts entered into by companies controlled by the defendant — Where plaintiff issued surety bonds in favour of ANZ at the request of those companies — Where the surety facility had been provided by CGU Insurance Limited (CGU) before the insurance business of CGU was transferred to the plaintiff pursuant to a scheme under s 17B of the Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) — Where the defendant as an indemnifier entered into a deed of indemnity with CGU — Where the surety bonds were called upon by ANZ and paid by the plaintiff — Whether CGU's rights and obligations under the deed were transferred to the plaintiff as a consequence of the scheme thereby entitling it to rely on the deed to seek reimbursement from the defendant Legislation Cited: Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) Cases Cited: Dobbs v National Bank of Australasia Ltd (1935) 53 CLR 643; [1935] HCA 49 Insurance Australia Ltd, in the Application of Insurance Australia Ltd (No 2) [2017] FCA 980 Prudential Insurance Company v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1904] 2 KB 658 Seaton v Heath [1899] 1 QB 782 Todd v Alterra at Lloyds Ltd (2016) 239 FCR 12; [2016] FCAFC 15 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Insurance Australia Limited (Plaintiff) Peter Maneas (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: B Koch (Plaintiff) IJ King with C Honnery (Defendant)