Insurance Law in Hannover. Enforcing cover when it matters.

W&I insurance shifts the risk of breached warranties under a share purchase agreement onto an insurer. The seller achieves a clean exit, the buyer carries no credit risk. The gap arises where the warranty catalogue and the cover do not match.

• Reconciling the warranty catalogue in the agreement with the cover under the policy
• Running the due diligence to the requirements of the underwriter
• Enforcing claims against the insurer after completion
• Handling known risks through specific cover or an adjustment to the price
• The transaction itself is structured by our practice area Corporate Law

Attack, encryption, data loss: the policy absorbs business interruption, forensics and the cost of pursuing claims. Insurers regularly refuse to pay by pointing to breached security conditions. Knowing those conditions in advance is what keeps the cover intact.

• Reviewing the contractual security requirements before the policy is taken out
• Guiding the response to the incident while meeting every notification deadline
• Enforcing first-party cover, for restoration and for loss of income
• Defending third-party claims arising from data that has left the business
• Notification duties and the risk of a fine are handled by our practice area Data Protection

Where a site stands still or a supply chain breaks, what is at stake is lost profit and continuing costs. Enforcement calls for technical understanding, because the dispute turns on the cause of the loss and on the calculation of the profit.

• Claims under business interruption and loss of profits cover, including the indemnity period and contingent losses
• Handling major losses under property, fire and natural perils cover
• Transport and logistics cover nationally and internationally, including sea and air freight
• Drawing the line between strict liability and insured loss in the carriage of goods
• The liability of carriers and warehouse keepers itself is handled by our practice area Transport Law

Design errors, defects and delay regularly lead to disputes between the employer, the designers and the insurers. What matters is which contract carries the loss: the contract works policy, the employer liability cover or the designer professional indemnity.

• Major losses under buildings, escape of water and fire cover for commercial property
• Claims under contract works and employer liability cover on development projects
• Claims against the professional indemnity insurers of architects and engineers for design and supervision errors
• Aligning the cover with the security package required by the financing bank
• The underlying building contract is handled by our practice area Construction Law

In a crisis insurers often try to cancel, to reprice, or to refuse payment by pointing to an increase in risk. Yet cover is essential if the business is to continue, which makes the duties of disclosure in this phase all the more important.

• Resisting cancellations and risk loadings that are not justified
• Advising the management on the heightened duties of disclosure and notification
• Keeping liability and property cover in place during the proceedings
• Treating unpaid premiums as an insolvency claim or as a cost of the estate
• The proceedings themselves are handled by our practice area Insolvency Law

Intermediaries sit between advisory liability, the claim to commission and the requirements of the Insurance Contract Act and the IDD. We act for brokers, multiple agencies and distribution companies, on either side of a dispute over remuneration.

• Defending claims for advice said to be wrong or for breach of the duty to document
• Drafting and reviewing broker agreements, cooperations and commission undertakings
• Enforcing claims to commission, to shared risk and to an extract from the books against insurers
• Portfolio transfers and the division of a broker portfolio on a sale
• Commercial agency law and the claim to compensation are handled by our practice area Commercial Law

Even an incident during towing or parking quickly reaches a serious order of magnitude. When a loss occurs, the policy, the technical facts and several liability regimes meet at once. We pursue the claim against the hull insurer and against the party at fault together.

• Hull claims for damage, accident and total loss, including constructive total loss
• Liability claims against other operators, airlines and their insurers
• Ground and handling damage caused by towing, handling and hangar operators
• Cost of repair, cost of replacement, diminution in value and consequential loss
• Coverage defences such as pilot clauses and limits on use, together with our practice area Aviation Law