On August 6, 2020, the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the Moscow Arbitration Court, obliging a large Russian Insurer to pay insurance indemnity in the amount of more than 70 million rubles under the insurance policy of the business risk in favor of the Insured (the Principal of KIAP, Attorneys at Law).
The dispute arose in connection with the untimely settlement by the Insurer of the claimed loss in connection with the cancellation of the car show based on the famous film franchise of the movie "Fast and the Furious". The show, which was organized by the Principal of KIAP, Attorneys at Law, on the territory of the Russian Federation did not take place due to the bankruptcy of the British counterparty, the distributor of this show. Losses due to bankruptcy of counterparties for the show were one of the risks insured under the business risk insurance contract. Since such losses are atypical for the practice of the Russian insurance market and are of an isolated nature, the parties to the insurance contract did not manage to resolve the issue of paying out the insurance indemnity out of court.
KIAP accompanied this loss from the very beginning of its settlement, and since the Insured did not receive the payment stipulated by the contract within the established time frame, the law firm was forced to file a relevant court complaint to the Arbitration Court. During the consideration of the case in the court of the first instance, the lawyers of KIAP, Attorneys at Law, formed and confirmed with evidence a legal position, which allowed the court to make sure that there was an insured event and the number of losses incurred by the Insured from its occurrence, which led to a decision to recover the amount of insurance compensation from the Insurer, and also penalties for violation of the terms of settlement of losses. The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal confirmed the legality and validity of this ruling, leaving it unchanged in full.
It should be reminded that this is one of the first cases in Russia to insure damages for such a large loss due to the cancellation of a cultural and entertainment event.
The Principal’s interests in this dispute were represented by Partner Dmitry Schnaydman.
Date: 10.09.2024