UK insurers refuse to pay Nord Stream because blasts were ‘government’ backed

merci @gonzo
Nord Stream, après la saison 1 D’où viennent ces bulles ?, la saison 2, Pour qui sont ces lawyers qui s’agitent dans les cours ? s’annonce prometteuse.

J’en avais raté le début, riche en informations, il y a deux mois ;

Nord Stream sues insurers in London over 2022 pipeline blasts | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nord-stream-sues-insurers-london-over-2022-pipeline-blasts-2024-03-12

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Nord Stream is seeking more than 400 million euros ($436 million) from its insurers over explosions in 2022 which ruptured pipelines designed to transport Russian gas to Germany, court filings show.

Nord Stream AG names Lloyd’s Insurance Company and Arch Insurance, opens new tab as defendants in its lawsuit, which was filed at London’s High Court last month.
Switzerland-based Nord Stream confirmed in an email there is a contractual dispute in London commercial courts between itself and insurers of the pipeline system.

“However, we ask for understanding that we are not in a position to provide any detailed comments to the legal proceedings,” Nord Stream’s communications team said.
Court filings state that Nord Stream’s current preliminary estimate of “the costs to dewater and stabilise the pipeline, to undertake a full repair and to replace the lost gas inventory” is between 1.2 billion and 1.35 billion euros.
Nord Stream’s lawsuit also says one of the pipelines looked “mangled and deformed” in one area where it had been damaged, but “appeared smooth and to have been cut” in another.

Lloyd’s declined to comment. Arch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit focuses on the explosions in September 2022 that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Sweden – which last month dropped its investigation – and Germany have both found traces of explosives relating to the incident, suggesting it was a deliberate act.

Russia and the West, at loggerheads over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied any involvement, and no one has taken responsibility.
But but there’s nothing like getting it all out there and and then monitoring that the performance.

Nord Stream in its lawsuit is suing all insurers subscribing to its offshore operating all-risks policy as well as its excess all-risks policy.
According to court documents, Nord Stream is suing Lloyd’s on its own behalf and as the representative of others subscribing to policies issued by insurers including Munich Re, which declined to comment.

et donc, l’épisode suivant

Nord Stream insurers deny policies covered war risks in UK lawsuit | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nord-stream-insurers-say-policies-did-not-cover-war-risks-kommersant-report

MOSCOW/LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Nord Stream’s insurers have denied that their policies provide cover for gas pipelines damaged by blasts in 2022 because the damage was caused by war, in their written defence to a lawsuit filed at London’s High Court.

Nord Stream is seeking more than 400 million euros ($427 million) from its insurers over the explosions which ruptured pipelines designed to transport Russian gas to Germany.
It named Lloyd’s Insurance Company and Arch Insurance, opens new tab as defendants in the suit.

Sweden – which in February dropped its investigation – and Germany have both found traces of explosives relating to the incident that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, suggesting it was a deliberate act.

In their written defence, dated April 8 and first reported by Kommersant daily on Thursday, the insurers said Nord Stream’s policy did not cover damage “directly or indirectly” resulting from war, military actions or the detonation of explosives.

The insurers also stated that the policy does not cover any damage which happened “under the order of any government”.
“The defendants will rely on ... the fact that the explosion damage could only have – or, at least, was more likely than not to have – been inflicted by or under the order of a government,” the insurers’ lawyer said.

Gazprom, which built the pipelines, and Nord Stream AG did not reply to requests for comment.

In an email, Lloyd’s said it is not at liberty to discuss individual policies or policyholders, nor can it comment on matters in litigation.
A spokesperson for Arch said the company does not comment on legal matters.
Russia and the West, at loggerheads over Moscow’s conflict with Ukraine, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied any involvement, and no one has taken responsibility.