Allianz Australia Insurance Limited v Dinov [2016] NSWDC 342

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Allianz Australia Insurance Limited v Dinov [2016] NSWDC 342 Hearing dates: 23 November 2016 Date of orders: 05 December 2016 Decision date: 05 December 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Dicker SC DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff against each of the defendants in the amount of $185,000; (2) The defendants are to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings as agreed or assessed; (3) Liberty to the parties to apply to vary order (2) above, on giving three business days' notice. Catchwords: Deed of Indemnity – whether action in damages for breach of Deed was prohibited by statute – statutory construction principles - words and phrases – "loss or damage arising out of or concerning defective building work" – purpose and object of provision – mischief sought to be overcome by provision – held action not prohibited Legislation Cited: Building Act 1993 (Vic) Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 1997 (NSW) Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) Cases Cited: AQO v Minister for Finance and Services [2016] NSWCA 248 Australian Rail Track Corp Ltd v Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd [2003] VSC 189 Brirek Industries Pty Ltd v McKenzie Group Consulting (Vic) Pty Ltd [2014] VSCA 165 Bryan v Maloney (1994) 182 CLR 609 Inter-Continental Travels Pty Ltd v Heuppauff [2000] SASC 7 Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998) 194 CLR 355; [1998] HCA 28 Wardley Australia Ltd v State of Western Australia (1992) 175 CLR 514 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Allianz Australia Insurance Limited (Plaintiff) Dino Dinov (First Defendant) Stefan Dinov (Second Defendant) Jona Dinov (Third Defendant) Jugoslav Zivanovic (Fourth Defendant) Veselka Zivanovic (Fifth Defendant) Natasha Zivanovic (Sixth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: T Lynch SC (Plaintiff) P J Bambagiotti (Defendants)