Advanced Reinsurance Contracts and Disputes Masterclass: Crafting Clear and Concise Agreements - Best Practices for Mitigating Disputes

DUBLIN, Aug. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Advanced Reinsurance Contracts and Disputes Masterclass Training Course" training has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This seminar focuses on the more advanced, up-to-the-minute issues.

Reinsurance industry practices have changed in recent years, placing more and more emphasis and importance on reinsurance contract wordings.

It is more apparent that a contract is only an advantage if it exactly reflects what the underwriter intended and the insured expected. If companies want to avoid lengthy and expensive disputes, they must develop clear and thorough reinsurance agreements and avoid frequent and small nuances that can land reinsurance companies in trouble.

Benefits of attending

• Get up-to-date with the latest developments in applicable law
• Understand the impact of the Insurance Act 2015 and the Enterprise Act 2016 on your policy wording
• Hear about the role of notice, information and claims control/cooperation clauses
• Grasp and learn to avoid the common mistakes in drafting watertight reinsurance clauses
• Master the latest developments in property and casualty clauses
• Gain knowledge of the regulatory considerations when launching a new product
• Understand the implications of recent judgments involving follow clauses
• Learn how to be prepared for reinsurance disputes and how to deal with them when they arise

Who Should Attend:

• Wordings technicians
• Reinsurance technicians
• Claims managers and underwriters
• Wordings specialists
• In-house lawyers
• Lawyers in private practice
• Anyone who is involved in the drafting or implementation of reinsurance wordings or who deal with reinsurance disputes

Agenda

Follow wordings - issues, options and effective drafting

• Arbitration awards, and English/foreign judgments
• Settlements - how to draft wide or narrow clauses
• "Without prejudice" and "ex-gratia" settlements
• Businesslike steps and the burden of proof
• Dealing with commutations

The Insurance Act 2015 and the Enterprise Act 2016 - case update and how they impact your policy wording

• The legal nature of warranties (sections 9 and 10)
• The effect of Section 11
• How to draft around section 11(3) - terms defining the risk
• Fair Presentation - new rules and wording tweaks
• Section 13A, damages for late payment of claims; key drafting issues for reinsurers
• Contracting out and the transparency requirements

Notice, information and claims control/cooperation clauses

• Purpose
• Reporting and notice clauses - "immediate', "as soon as practicable" notice
• Conditions precedent
• Access to records clauses
• Late notice issues
• Confidentiality

Drafting watertight reinsurance clauses: some common mistakes

• Full follow clause/back-to-back presumption
• Avoid incorporate
• Don't cut and paste
• Check for internal consistency between clauses
• Put all the clauses in the right places in the document
• Use clear language
• Make sure definitions are relevant to all uses
• Don't use the same words in different senses
• Don't rely on the courts to imply terms

Developments in property and casualty clauses

• Wording issues for emerging and developing markets
• Clauses broadening cedants' rights
• Additional observations and developments

Aggregation

• Drafting for the correct breadth of aggregating factor ("loss", "occurrence", "series", "event", "catastrophe", "originating cause")
• Hours clauses
• Considering drafting issues in the context of recent catastrophes including Covid-19
• Practical tips

Regulatory considerations when launching a new product

• Why is regulatory compliance important?
• Why is regulatory risk higher for new products?
• The impact of insurance regulation on the structure, content and sale of new products
• How do you create a compliant MVP?
• What are the risks of working with other business partners/distribution partners?

Being prepared for reinsurance disputes: Wordings and their role in dispute resolution

• Governing law and jurisdiction
• Arbitration
• Mediation (and med/arb)
• Selection of panel members
• Disclosure and evidentiary matters
• Settlement agreements and commutations (including IBNR)

Speakers:

Will Reddie
HFW

William Reddie, Partner, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, advises on a range of corporate and regulatory matters, focussing on clients in the insurance sector. His experience includes M&A, joint ventures, (re)insurance arrangements, commutations and transactions specific to the Lloyd's market, and insurtech products. 

Christopher Foster
Holman Fenwick Willan

Christopher Foster, Head of Holman Fenwick Willan's worldwide insurance group, is a solicitor advocate with over twenty-eight years' experience in contentious insurance and reinsurance matters, often with an international element, and commercial litigation generally. Christopher acts for insurers, reinsurers, and major insured entities and their captive insurers. 

Sherry Goodman-Smith
DAC Beechcroft

Sherry Goodman-Smith is a specialist in complex insurance and reinsurance policy coverage disputes. She joined DAC Beachcroft's Global Insurance practice as a partner, based in London, in 2021.

Sherry spent the previous eight years at Simmons & Simmons, most recently as Of Counsel. There she advised London market insurers and reinsurers on large-scale coverage issues, with a particular focus on product liability and recall, international casualty and complex property claims. 

Duncan Strachan
DAC Beachcroft

Duncan Strachan is a Partner at DAC Beachcroft LLP. He specialises in complex and international (re)insurance matters across multiple lines of business.  

Ben Ogden
Ince & Co

Ben Ogden is a partner at Ince & Co. He acts for insurers, insureds and brokers in a variety of insurance disputes. He has significant expertise, gained over many years, of professional indemnity insurance, and political, trade and credit risk insurance. His professional indemnity work has focussed on lawyers, where his experience encompasses all aspects of legal practice; as well as insurance brokers, dealing with complex placements and coverage issues. 

In addition to his practice, Ben lectures regularly on insurance law and about alternative dispute resolution, of which he has considerable experience representing clients.

Andrew Bandurka
Holman Fenwick Willan

Andrew Bandurka Arbitrator, Mediator and Consultant. Andrew has more than 30 years' experience in handling reinsurance disputes. He was a partner at leading international reinsurance firm, HFW and he retains a consultancy there. 

Simon Cooper
Ince & Co

Simon Cooper is a Consultant at Ince & Co LLP. He has experience of advising clients in the London and international insurance and reinsurance markets and has extensive experience of acting in large scale disputes in the English Commercial Court and appellate Courts, in ad hoc arbitrations and in overseas jurisdictions. 

For more information about this training visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ul0qb5

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