Darwin Convention Centre.

Barrister Greg Pynt speaking at the 2013 conference.

Professor Allan Manning and barrister Greg Pynt at the 2013 conference.

Ask anyone who has been to the Territory Insurance Conference (TIC) and they will tell you - it is an event not to be missed.

Boasting an inspirational line-up of speakers, the event attracts about 300 delegates to the Darwin Convention Centre who are keen to take advantage of the professional development and networking opportunities.

TIC is on October 22-24, 2014.

Conference founder TIO launched the conference theme, Resilient Tomorrow reflecting the forward-thinking focus.

TIO CEO Richard Harding said: “The theme is reflected throughout the program, offering food for thought for delegates of all levels of experience. 

“We outline strategies to ensure delegates know what’s in store for our industry tomorrow – and how they can make changes to evolve and succeed today.”

The event will bring together claims professionals, brokers, insurers and service providers from throughout the Northern Territory to share knowledge, build strong business relationships and foster positive change and a more resilient industry.

The event will continue to be the primary forum for NT professionals to earn QPIB and CPD points through NIBA and ANZIIF, providing current and relevant training on topics and issues relevant to the NT insurance industry and direct access to experts in their fields.

Among an impressive array of organisations, AILA is again supporting the event. NT chair Lance Schmidt urged industry members and legal professionals to take advantage of the educational opportunities, with conference sessions free for industry participants.

“Darwin has limited face-to-face educational opportunities and TIC offers members a unique learning experience for people at every level,” Mr Schmidt said.

“The content is varied and offers relevant subjects for industry and legal personnel. I have attended the two previous conferences and cannot recommend it highly enough.”

Due to popular demand, AILA insurance law prize winner and University of WA’s Faculty of Law Visiting Fellow, Perth barrister Greg Pynt, will return to the speaker line-up for the third consecutive year.

His presentation will focus on issues for contractors and their insurers arising out of operator-generated indemnity, insurance procurement, contractual liability and waiver of subrogation clauses.

His presentation, “The Ichthys LNG Project: Fishing for perfect contractual risk allocation, let me know if you catch anything” is expected to attract strong interest because of its relevance to the NT market.

Mr Pynt said he was looking forward to presenting to TIC delegates again. “I am very pleased to have been associated from the outset with such a high quality, well-run event and, more importantly, with TIO’s commitment to the NT insurance community,” he said.

LMI Group’s Professor Allan Manning will also return to speak at TIC. He will examine the emerging risk of cyber insurance, explain what insureds can do to better protect themselves, and examine whether insurance alone is enough.

He will outline the key features, benefits and restrictions of cyber policies currently in the Australian market.

Other speakers include LMI’s Steven Manning; Willis Re’s Glen Riddell and Emilie Webster; and NIBA’s Linda Evans, who will present on the industry’s code of conduct.

The third annual TIC heralds the inaugural Territory Insurance Awards. Richard Harding says the awards will help drive excellence in NT’s insurance industry.

“Not only will the awards acknowledge outstanding achievers for the first time, they will help promote excellence in the NT industry into the future.”

Categories are:

1.  TIO broker professional of the year
2. Sales & underwriting professional of the year
3.  eReports casualty claims professional of the year
4.  Service provider professional of the year
5.  MCLOA young insurance professional of the year
6. LMI property claims professional of the year

Award nominations are open at www.tioconference.com/awards/nominate-now.You can nominate yourself, a friend or a colleague, but get in early to allow plenty of time to lodge submissions.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner on October 24 the Darwin Convention Centre.

For more information about the conference, go to www.tioconference.com.au. Registrations will soon be live, so don’t miss this chance to be a part of the NT’s pinnacle insurance industry event.

This year’s Twilight seminar series has finished and, as usual, was a great success with high attendances for all seminars.

AILA NSW thanks Minter Ellison for hosting the series and the speakers who provided a good insight into some legal issues affecting insurance.

Congratulations to the Twilight seminar subcommittee members for their efforts in providing great topics and co-ordinating speakers.

The subcommittee comprised Paul O’Brien, YPOL, (chair); Ashley Fill, Macquarie Group; Celia Reichelt; Chris Finn, Kennedys; Clare Branch, Gilchrist Connell; David Speiser, Landerer & Co; John Dillon, Clyde & Co; Kate Blue, Curwoods Lawyers;  Ray Giblett, Norton Rose Fulbright; and Robin Bowley, UTS.

The education seminar subcommittee is planning seminars that will examine construction, duties of superannuation fund trustees, and law for insurers. Details will be on AILA’s website soon.

The Sir Ninian Stephen Insurance Law Masterclass on May 23 met all expectations as one of Victoria’s premiere insurance law events.

With an attendance of more than 130 people, feedback was excellent and lends to itself to similar events in the future. Thank you to all who gave freely of their time to make the event a success.

Since May, AILA Victoria has had two seminars, the Geoff Masel memorial lecture and an AILA-NPLA joint seminar. The committee thanks Justice Kevin Nicholson for battling through a terrible cold on the night to present a well-received paper on uniform proportionate liability regimes in Australia (see lead article). Justice Nicholson spoke to a capacity crowd that had high praise for the presentation.

Also well received was an expert panel presentation in July arranged jointly by AILA and NPLA, titled Product liability insurance: Coverage, limits, exclusions and aggregation. The panel comprised Peter Holloway, partner, Herbert Smith Freehills; Michael Thompson QC; Julie Harriss, portfolio manager - liability claims, CGU Insurance Ltd; and  Jim Douglas, regional adjuster manager, Cerno Ltd.

Racing to the end of the year, August, September and October saw another three seminars - Fines, penalties & insurance; D&O management liability risk; and Civil Procedure Act 2010 Update.

That rounded out a busy program for the Victorian committee in 2014, with its sights squarely set on the national conference in Melbourne in 2015.

It has been a busy few months for AILA SA.

In June the branch hosted very successful events - the Geoff Masel memorial lecture, delivered by Justice Kevin Nicholson, and a Young Professionals Fundamentals lunchtime session. Allianz’s Wayne Kendall and Michael Lorek presented on the topic: ISR and liability basics explained.

In June the branch farewelled its secretariat Margaret Cloy and welcomed Ursula Davies as the new secretariat. Ursula is well known to many in the insurance industry in Adelaide, having worked in the industry for many years, most recently with CGU.

On July 24, AILA SA and NIBA hosted a joint breakfast briefing. A panel of speakers addressed a sell-out crowd on the topic A brave new world – SA’s proposed new workers’ compensation system under the microscope. Thanks to Robin Shaw, from Self Insurers of SA; Neville John, director of KJK Legal; and Jodie Bradbrook, principal of Bradbrook Lawyers; and special thanks to Barrie Datson and Mark Keam from the SA committee for pulling the event together.

On August 28, barrister Nicholas Floreani, of Edmund Barton Chambers, presented on Privilege in the insurance context. He discussed privilege in insurance disputes, common interest privilege, joint privilege and waiver.

Young Professionals Fundamentals lunchtime session is scheduled for October 2 and there are two final breakfast briefings for the year on November 6 and December 11. Check the AILA website for details closer to the dates.

An AILA Queensland presentation on July 31 outlined case law developments against hoteliers, including the decision of Howl at the Moon Broadbeach Pty Ltd v Lamble [2014] QCA 74. 

Brisbane barrister Damien Atkinson reviewed the decision, and urged Qld bars and hotels to note they could be found liable for assaults by their staff on patrons on the basis acts came within the scope of their employment, even if they have specifically excluded crowd control from their duties. 

The Qld Supreme Court found Gold Coast nightclub Howl at the Moon liable for injuries a barman sustained after he was assaulted by a barman, despite the club having warned the barman not to get involved with security. The Appeal Court upheld the decision.

The issue was whether the proprietor was vicariously liable for the employee’s criminal conduct, which it was found to be.

“That determination involved a detailed consideration of the law concerning vicarious liability,” Mr Atkinson said. 

He told Resolve the case was interesting because there had been many cases where a worker had gratuitously harmed a patron but the employer had been found liable because it was related to the worker’s duties.

He said those cases differed from Howl at the Moon in that, “for them, the perpetrator was usually a security guard engaged by the hotel, so it might be said crowd control was part of the perpetrator’s employment”.

But in Howl at the Moon, the perpetrator was a barman who struck a patron outside the club’s premises, but the employer was still found liable for his actions. “The court found the barman was acting in the course of his employment in assisting the bar proprietors,” Mr Atkinson said.

He said where a security guard was an independent contractor, “there could be no vicarious liability”, so the Howl at the Moon decision could cause insurers to prefer to cover hotels and clubs that had security subcontractors.

“The intention is to use independent contractors to quarantine the insurer from the vexed issues concerning crowd control. Given the decision in Howl at the Moon, that may not be a sufficient safeguard,” Mr Atkinson said.

He said points to take from the decision included:

• Hotels may be vicariously liable for deliberate acts of staff engaged in crowd control, particularly if their involvement was found to further an employer’s interests or in consequence of an emergency.

• The liability risk in security matters would be reduced if hotels engaged adequate independent contractors so the role clearly fell outside hotel staff’s responsibilities.

• Defendants should argue contributory negligence to avoid being precluded from running that argument at trial.

• Be diligent to establish a plaintiff’s level of intoxication. It would be relevant in challenging their version of events on liability. It would also be relevant for invoking the statutory presumption of contributory negligence.

• The contributory negligence test was objective and not diminished by a plaintiff’s state of intoxication.