29 May 2018
Navigators Insurance Company Ltd and ors v Atlasnavios-Navegacao LDA [2018] UKSC 26: malicious acts and exclusion of cover in standard war risk insurance
In Navigators Insurance Company Ltd and ors v Atlasnavios-Navegacao LDA (formerly Bnavios-Navagecao LDA), the Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the insured shipowners challenging the decision by insurers to decline cover to a vessel held by customs authorities in Venezuela due to the discovery of a substantial quantity of cocaine. In doing so, the Supreme Court upheld the result at the Court of Appeal, although it reached a decision which not only departed from the Court of Appeal’s reasoning, but also from the common ground between the parties as to the malicious nature of the acts in
