Commonwealth Steel Company Limited v BHP Billiton Marine & General Insurance Limited [2017] NSWSC 1445

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Commonwealth Steel Company Limited v BHP Billiton Marine & General Insurance Limited [2017] NSWSC 1445 Hearing dates: 18 September 2017 Decision date: 24 October 2017 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Hammerschlag J Decision: Plaintiff's claim dismissed Catchwords: INSURANCE LAW - CONTRACT - construction of a clause in an insurance policy which makes provision for indexation - whether indexation applies to the deductible - HELD: it does Cases Cited: Wilkie v Gordian Runoff Ltd (2005) 222 CLR 522 McCann v Switzerland Insurance Australia Ltd (2000) 203 CLR 579 Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104 Secured Income Real Estate (Australia) Ltd v St Martins Investments Pty Ltd (1979) 144 CLR Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of NSW (1982) 149 CLR 337 Bahr v Nicolay [No 2] (1987) 164 CLR 604 Watson v Phipps (1986) 60 ALJR 1 Fitzgerald v Masters (1956) 95 CLR 420 Automobile Fire and General Insurance Co of Australia Ltd v Davey (1936) 54 CLR 534 Westpac Banking Corp v Tanzone Pty Ltd (2000) 9 BPR 17,521 St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance v Clark (No. 2) [1973] 1 WLR 1572 Texts Cited: Lewison & Hughes, The Intepretation of Contracts in Australia, Law Book Co. 2012 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Commonwealth Steel Company Limited - Plaintiff BHP Billiton Marine & General Insurance Limited - Defendant Representation: Counsel: J.C. Kelly SC with S.H. Hartford Davis D. McLure SC with N. Olson