Court Of Appeal Reaffirms Law On Aggregation Of Claims Pursuant To A "cause" Based Wording

• Published date: 30 March 2022
• Law Firm: Cooley LLP
• Author: Mr Sam Tacey and Mark Everiss

In Spire Healthcare v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd[2022] EWCA Civ 17, the Court of Appeal reversed the first instance decision of Judge Pelling QC holding that the two sets of claims in question had in common a unifying factor, such that they should be aggregated for the purposes of the aggregation clause in the policy. The net effect of this decision was that the insured's claim was limited to the '10m per claim limit of the policy (rather than the '20m aggregate limit).

The case concerned claims made against Spire Healthcare in respect of the conduct of a consultant breast surgeon, Ian Paterson. The claims were categorised into two groups: individuals on whom Dr Paterson had performed incomplete total mastectomies and individuals on whom Dr Paterson had carried out unnecessary surgeries. Dr Paterson was convicted of criminal offences, and Spire Healthcare settled the claims made against it for approximately '27 million. It was accepted by Royal & Sun Alliance Ltd (RSA) that Spire was liable in respect of the...