Success for DZP's insurance team in the Regional Court in Warsaw in a dispute between a German entrepreneur and an insurer

DZP has won at first instance a case against an insurer under a business interruption (BI) insurance policy. The court upheld our client's claim under the policy in full and awarded it very high statutory late payment interest – in total several million Polish zloty.

The case involved a fire that completely destroyed the factory of a German building materials group in 2010. The insurer refused to pay compensation in full, citing alleged shortcomings in the fire protection documentation and forcing our client into years of litigation, which involved numerous experts and witnesses.

Particularly important in this multifaceted case were insurance law issues, controversial in court case law, such as the legal significance of preventive obligations set out in the GTC, particularly the existence of a requirement to prove a causal link between their breach and the damage, and the legal consequences of examining the subject of the insurance prior to concluding an insurance agreement and so-called acceptance of risk. In these issues, the court upheld DZP's argument in its entirety and confirmed that the onus was on the insurer to show a causal link between potential failings of the insured and the damage.

The DZP team working for the client comprised Julita Zimoch-Tuchołka, Partner, Joanna Schubel, Senior Associate, Magdalena Krzysztoporska, Senior Associate, and Anna Oleś, Associate, from the insurance team and Paweł Paradowski, Partner in the Dispute Resolution Practice.