Navigators and General Insurance Co Ltd v Ringrose
[1962] 1 All ER 97Between: Navigators and General Insurance Co Ltd
And: Ringrose
Judges:
Holroyd Pearce LJ
Willmer LJ
Davies LJ
Subject References:
Insurance
Marine insurance
Policy
Dinghy insurance
Policy covering loss or damage "whilst within the United Kingdom ashore or afloat"
Accident to craft in middle of English Channel
Constitutional Law
Channel Islands
Whether part of the United Kingdom
Case References:
Stoneham v Ocean, Railway and General Accident Insurance Co - (1887), 19 QBD 237; 51 LT 236; 51 JP 422; 8 Digest (Repl) 844, 919
Judgment date: 16 November 1961
ORDER
Under a dinghy insurance policy, the plaintiffs insured the defendant's catamaran "whilst within the United Kingdom ashore or afloat". While the defendant was sailing from the south coast of England to the Channel Islands, the craft was dismasted in about the middle of the English Channel and twenty-eight miles from the shore of England. His rescuers laid claim to salvage and the plaintiffs agreed to pay the defendant the sum claimed without admission of liability on his promise to repay if, on investigation, they proved not to be liable. In an action by the plaintiffs to recover the sum paid on the ground that the accident did not occur "whilst within the United Kingdom ashore or afloat",
Held:
The plaintiffs were entitled to recover the sum paid, since it was the place where the casualty happened which determined whether the loss occurred within the policy or not and a point in the middle of the English Channel was not within the words of the policy quoted above.
Per Holroyd Pearce LJ, Willmer LJ concurring: the Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom (see p 99, letter b, and p 100, letter a, post).
Stoneham v Ocean, Railway and General Accident Insurance Co ((1887), 19 QBD 237 ) doubted.
Quaere: whether the words in the policy "within the United Kingdom ashore or afloat" connote the waters over which Her Majesty claims jurisdiction (see p 99, letter e, and p 100, letter c, post).
Appeal dismissed.
Notes
As to the meaning of words in a policy of marine insurance, see 22 Halsbury's Laws (3rd Edn) 212, 213, para 402.
As to the Channel Islands, see 5 Halsbury's Laws (3rd Edn) 647, para 1392; and for a case on the subject, see 8 Digest (Repl) 844, 919.
Appeal
Appeal by the defendant, Nigel J Ringrose, from a judgment of His Honour Judge Block at the Mayor's and City of London Court on 11 April 1961, whereby he awarded the plaintiffs, the Navigators and General Insurance Co £52 15s 8d The facts are set out in the judgment of Holroyd Pearce LJ.
The defendant appeared in person.