Adding insolvency to injury - a thought experiment on the rights of consumers, third parties and flood victims

Hjalmarsson, Johanna (2015) Adding insolvency to injury - a thought experiment on the rights of consumers, third parties and flood victims. Hjalmarsson, Johanna (ed.) In Future Directions of Consumer Flood Insurance in the UK - Reflections upon the creation of Flood Re. University of Southampton. pp. 41-48 .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Flood Re is designed to be a reinsurer. It is a well-established feature of insurance law that the consumer or other insured cannot ever in theory or practice have any rights against the reinsurer. This is due to the simple fact that the consumer or other insured is not a party to the reinsurance contract, which is concluded between the insurer and the reinsurer. However, lessons from liability insurance teach us that this may lead to undesirable results where the insurer is unwilling or unable to pay the insured. While the integrity of reinsurance is important, it will also be an important public and social policy question for Flood Re to consider what should happen in a similar situation. This paper explains the law to illustrate a potential problem of social policy and perceptions; a problem to which there probably cannot be a legal solution, but which will need to be addressed in the process of setting up Flood Re to help ensure that flood damage payments can be made to those who need it as quickly as possible.

This record has no associated files available for download.