Re Continental Assurance Company of London Plc ((in Liquidation))

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
Judgment Date18 December 1999
Date18 December 1999
CourtChancery Division

Chancery Division

Before Mr Justice Carnwath

In re Continental Assurance Company of London plc (in liquidation)

Insolvency - insurance company - fixing date of voluntary liquidation

Fixing date of voluntary liquidation

The Insurance Companies (Winding Up) Rules (SI 1985 No 95 (L2)) were designed to be a comprehensive code and applied to all liquidations whether compulsory or voluntary.

In order to avoid an otherwise inexplicable anomaly, it was necessary, in the case of a voluntary liquidation, to read the reference to the date of the winding up order, in those paragraphs which referred specifically to a winding up order, as a reference to the resolution which constituted the commencement of the winding up under the Insolvency Act 1986 and the point at which the company went into liquidation.

Mr Justice Carnwath so held in a reserved judgment in the Chancery Division when giving directions under section 112 of the 1986 Act relating to the winding up of Continental Assurance Company of London plc.

The two joint liquidators, Christopher John Hughes and David Julian Buchler were, respectively, applicant and respondent for the purpose of determining whether claims under eight prize indemnity insurance policies and one promotional contingency insurance policy were to be valued on "a just estimate of value" or a "return of premium" basis under the 1985 Rules.

Rule 6 of the 1985 Rules provides: "Except in relation to amounts which have fallen due for payment before the date of the winding up order, the holder of a general business policy shall be admitted as a creditor in relation to his policy without proof for an amount equal to the value of the policy and for this purpose the value of a policy shall be determined in accordance with Schedule 1."

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 provides: "(1) This paragraph applies in relation to liabilities under a general business policy...

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22 cases
  • Re Whiteley Insurance Consultants (A Firm)
    • United Kingdom
    • Chancery Division (Companies Court)
    • Invalid date
    ... Chancery Division In re Whiteley Insurance Consultants (a firm) ... had a claim payable before the liquidation date, that claim was provable in the liquidation ... on the business in fact carried on by a company, not on whether it was authorised to do so; and ... [ 1999 ] Lloyd’s Rep IR 377 , CA Continental Assurance Co of London plc, In re (No 3) [ 1999 ... ...
  • Lloyd Christopher Biscoe v Graham William Milner
    • United Kingdom
    • Chancery Division
    • 30 March 2021
    ...section 213(2) IA 1986. 448 At [29], Roth J considered the judgment of Park J in Re Continental Assurance Co of London Plc (in liq.) [2001] B.P.I.R. 733, a wrongful trading claim under section 214 of the 1986 Act. Where such an application was made against more than one respondent, Park J r......
  • Stephen Paul Grant and Another v William Ralph Ralls and Others
    • United Kingdom
    • Chancery Division
    • 11 February 2016
    ...former class also suffers to the extent that the assets of the comp an y a re depl eted b y wron gf ul trading." 238 Likewise, in Re Continental Assurance plc [ [2001] BPIR 862 at 864, Park J considered the possible approaches to quantification of a wrongful trading claim. He rejected a cla......
  • Re Continental Assurance Company of London Plc ((in Liquidation)) (No 4); Singer and another v Beckett and Others
    • United Kingdom
    • Chancery Division
    • Invalid date
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2 books & journal articles
  • Table of Cases
    • United Kingdom
    • Wildy Simmonds & Hill Watson-Gandy On Corporate Insolvency Practice - 2nd Edition Contents
    • 29 August 2017
    ...1 WLR 953, [1995] BCC 634, [1995] 1 BCLC 440, CA 65, 70 Continental Assurance Co of London plc, Re; Singer v Beckett [2007] 2 BCLC 287, [2001] BPIR 733, [2001] All ER (D) 229 (Apr), ChD 363 Cornhill Insurance plc v Improvement Services Ltd [1986] 1 WLR 114, [1986] PCC 204, [1986] BCLC 26, C......
  • Application for a declaration that the director has been engaged in wrongful trading
    • United Kingdom
    • Wildy Simmonds & Hill Watson-Gandy On Corporate Insolvency Practice - 2nd Edition Contents
    • 29 August 2017
    ...of the Insolvency Act 1986. 6 Morphitis v Bernasconi [2003] EWCA Civ 289, [2003] BCC 540. 7 Re Continental Assurance Co of London plc [2001] BPIR 733. 8 Sections 214(3) and 246ZB(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986. 364 Corporate Insolvency Practice functions by that director in relation to the c......