Insurance—Reinsurance

Following the loss of a vessel and its cargo during a typhoon in the Philippines, the claimant reinsurers sought negative declarations regarding the construction of a “typhoon warranty” in the reinsurance policy between them and the defendant insurer of the vessel. The judge allowed the application due to breaches of the terms of the warranty with the consequence that the claimants were not liable under the terms of the policy. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the defendant’s appeal, finding that the judge had not erred in his construction of the warranty, nor had he erred in his conclusion, on the evidence, as to the route that the vessel’s master had intended to take in breach of the warranty.