Hamish Fraser

Insurance & Reinsurance

Hamish regularly advises and represents insurers and policyholders in respect of insurance and reinsurance related disputes in a diverse set of circumstances. His recent work includes:

• Clarendon Dental Spa LLP & Anor v Aviva Insurance Ltd & Zurich Insurance Limited [2025] EWHC 267 (Comm). Represented the successful claimant policyholder in its strike out/summary judgment application in a £8m coverage dispute. The Court held that the Defendant insurer had impliedly waived disclosure of matters which it had relied upon as entitling it to avoid the policy in full such that its defence had no real prospect of success and was struck out (led by Ben Quiney KC).
• David Wood Baking (UK) Limited v QBE & Ors (Comm). Representing the policyholder in a c£100m insurance coverage dispute arising out of a substantial fire at a commercial premises. The matter proceeded on an expedited basis and settled shortly before trial (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Finsbury Food Group Plc v Axis Corporate Capital UK Ltd [2023] EWHC 1559 (Comm). Commercial Court trial representing the defendant W&I insurers who underwrote a £20m acquisition of a food manufacturing business. The buyer of the business claimed under the W&I policy on the basis of alleged breaches of a number of warranties under the share purchase agreement. The defendant insurers succeeded on every issue after a two-week trial (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Hamsard One Thousand and Forty-Three Ltd v AE Insurance Brokers Ltd [2024] EWHC 262 (Comm). Commercial Court trial successfully representing a firm of insurance brokers alleged to have negligently failed to arrange an appropriate scope of cover and to disclose material facts such that the insurer avoided the policy for non-disclosure and misrepresentation (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Norman Hay plc v Marsh Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 58. Appeal concerning the correct test for causation in professional negligence claims brought against insurance brokers alleged to have failed to put in place an appropriate scope of cover (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Instructed to advise Insurers in respect of a breach of warranty claim brought by a private equity company after the acquisition of a leading professional training company.
• Drafting particulars in relation to a coverage dispute after insurers declined to provide an indemnity for fire damage at a commercial premises due to breach of occupancy conditions.
• Drafting a skeleton argument and assisting preparations for the Court of Appeal proceedings in Spire Healthcare Ltd v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 17. The matter concerned the interpretation of aggregation clauses in insurance contracts and arose from multiple claims brought against a private hospital by patients injured by the disgraced breast surgeon, Ian Paterson (as a pupil).

Selected Cases

News

• Members of Crown Office Chambers recognised for their Pro Bono work
• High Court hands down judgment in Clarendon Dental Spa v Zurich [2025] EWHC 267 (Comm)

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Articles

• Waiver of disclosure under the Insurance Act 2015
• Defending W&I claims: strategic themes illustrated in Finsbury Foods v Axis & Ors

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Blogs

• Waiver of disclosure under the Insurance Act 2015

Events

• Crown Office Chambers at The National Pupillage Fair 2024
• Crown Office Chambers Pupillage Open Evening

Qualifications

• BPTC (Outstanding), BPP
• GDL (Distinction), City University
• English Language & Literature (First Class), University of Oxford

Awards

• Buchanan Prize for outstanding performance on the BPTC (Lincoln’s Inn, 2020)
• Advocacy Scholarship (BPP, 2019)
• Tancred Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn, 2019)
• Winner, the Crowther Shield for public speaking (Lincoln’s Inn, 2019)
• Winner, the Crown Office Mooting Competition (2018)
• The Janet Quigley Prize for Middle English studies (Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 2016)