Kumar Motors (Bankstown) Pty Ltd v Insurance Australia Ltd t/as NRMA Insurance; Insurance Australia Ltd t/as NRMA Insurance v Kumar Motors (Bankstown) Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1874

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Kumar Motors (Bankstown) Pty Ltd v Insurance Australia Ltd t/as NRMA Insurance; Insurance Australia Ltd t/as NRMA Insurance v Kumar Motors (Bankstown) Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1874 Hearing dates: 5 - 8 and 13 December 2016 Decision date: 20 December 2016 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Stevenson J Decision: Claim and cross-claim dismissed Catchwords: CONTRACTS – construction – plaintiff appointed agent of defendant to sell CTP policies – whether plaintiff's entitlement to renewal commissions survived termination of the contract – whether plaintiff in breach of obligation not to sub-contract agency; REPRESENTATIONS – whether defendant represented that entitlement to renew commissions would survive termination – whether plaintiff relied on representation – whether plaintiff suffered detriment by reason of any such reliance Legislation Cited: Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd (2014) 251 CLR 640; HCA 7 Gates v City Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited (1986) 160 CLR 1; HCA 3 Houssein v Under Secretary, Dept of Industrial Relations & Technology (NSW) (1982) 148 CLR 88; HCA 2 HP Mercantile Pty Ltd v Hartnett [2016] NSWCA 343 Marks v GIO Australia Holdings Limited (1998) 196 CLR 494; HCA 69 McDonald v Dennys Lascelles Limited (1933) 48 CLR 457; HCA 25 Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104; HCA 37 Re Golden Key Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 636 Recoveries Corporation Group Ltd v American Express Australia Ltd [2016] NSWSC 771 Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd v Samsung C&T Corporation [2015] WASC 458 SCN Pty Ltd v Smith [2006] QCA 360 Silovi Pty Ltd v Barbaro (1988) 13 NSWCA 466 Simic v New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation [2016] HCA 47 Waltons Stores (Interstate) v Maher (1988) 164 CLR 387; HCA 7 Westralian Farmers Ltd v Commonwealth Agricultural Service Engineers Ltd (1936) 54 CLR 361; HCA 6 Texts Cited: K Lewison and D Hughes, The Interpretation of Contracts in Australia, (2012, Lawbook Co) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Kumar Motors (Bankstown) Pty Ltd (Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) Insurance Australia Ltd trading as NRMA Insurance (Defendant/Cross-Claimant) Representation: Counsel: S Y Rueben (Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) D H Mitchell (Defendant/Cross-Claimant)