We regularly advise insurers, corporates, brokers and loss adjusters on a wide range of insurance-related matters, involving contentious, corporate and/or regulatory and compliance advice.

The Team overall is led by Hamish McIntosh, listed in the 2009 ALB Insurance Law Guide as one of Australasia's leading insurance lawyers.

Corporate and regulatory

The Team provides advice, both domestically and offshore, across the full range of non-contentious insurance-related issues, including local regulation and compliance; law reform; structural; governance; and product development and policy wording.

Contentious

We are also recognised leaders in dealing with all insurance claims areas, including indemnity, liability and recovery disputes in respect of commercial; statutory and public liability; fire and general; directors and officers; professional indemnity; and life and health. The Team regularly appears for clients in all forms of dispute resolution, from court appearances to mediations.

Our clients

Our clients include IAG NZ, Southern Cross Healthcare, Vero, ING NZ, Combined Insurance, QBE NZ, Zurich, and Crombie Lockwood.

Examples of our recent work include: 

• acting as New Zealand advisor to Suncorp-Metway Ltd on its merger with Promina Group Ltd to create an insurance group with a combined value of A$6.8 billion. This deal was one of the largest financial sector mergers in Australasian legal history and was nominated as M&A deal of the Year in the Australasian Legal Business Awards 
• advising Guinness Peat Group plc in respect of its subsidiary, GPG Twenty One Limited's, offer for 15.3% of the shares in TOWER Limited, a dual listed (NZX and ASX) insurance company 
• advising Southern Cross in relation to the acquisition of Aetna Health (NZ) Ltd, and acting on subsequent appeals to the High Court and Court of Appeal 
• acting for IAG NZ in relation to the Icepak Coolstore explosion in Tamahere in April 2008 
• acting for multiple corporate clients on various insurance law reform projects, including the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill and the Insurance Contracts Bill.