Elizabeth Boon

Insurance & Reinsurance

Elizabeth is frequently instructed by and on behalf of insurers in relation to policy coverage and indemnity issues, as well as in subrogated recovery actions arising out of fire, flood, tree root subsidence, other property damage and in the related fields of construction and product liability.

Elizabeth acts in relation to all types of policy dispute (non-marine), including disputes concerning policy construction, non-disclosure, late / non-notification, fraudulent claims, and brokers duties. Insurance issues frequently arise in all other areas of Elizabeth’s practice, such as Professional Negligence and Property Damage.

Fire, Flood and other Disaster Claims

Elizabeth has extensive experience of very large fire claims and disaster litigation. She has been involved in TCC and Commercial Court multi-million pound litigation arising from major fires such as: Primark v Magna, and Southwark v Greenacre. She was part of the team of Counsel working on the Buncefield litigation for Total. All of which involved policy disputes.

Selected Cases

• Acting on behalf of an education trust in relation to whether it was entitled to recover extensive legal costs incurred in relation to its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
• Acting on behalf of an insurer disputing cover for a fire claim on the basis that it was caused by one of the tenants. Construction issues as to “malicious persons” and “arson”.
• Acting for insurers seeking to resist 197 claims by solicitors arising out of conveyancing transactions where the firm had failed to comply with their reporting obligations to the lender clients when fraud was suspected.
• Acting for insurers in a claim brought against a number of insurers arising out of the provision of legal expenses insurance.
• Acting for insurers in relation to a licensed premises policy and in particular whether an alleged assault incident was covered under the terms of the policy.
• Acting for insurers in relation to an allegedly fraudulent insurance claim brought by a husband and wife for fire damage, involving complicated questions of law regarding joint and composite policies.

Articles

• Covid-19: Business Interruption insurance, an FCA class action, and the long-tail risks to insurance brokers
• Covid-19: issues for property and business interruption insurers by Elizabeth Boon, Crown Office Chambers

Qualifications

• Major Scholarship, Inner Temple
• BA (Hons) (Oxon)

Memberships

• Adjudication Society
• Commercial Bar Association
• LCIA Young International Arbitration Group
• London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association
• Professional Negligence Bar Association
• Society of Construction Law (UK & Gulf)
• Technology & Construction Court Bar Association