Miles Smith case highlights non-disclosure danger

Abstract

Brokers have been warned of the perils of non-disclosure following a recent court case involving commercial high-risk broker Miles Smith. Although Justice David Steel did not rule in the claimant's favor, he still found Miles Smith's attempts to explain Envirocom's obligations "seriously inadequate". Paul Chainey, chief executive, Miles Smith, said brokers now had increased responsibility whereas historically the onus had been on the insurer. Material fact-related advice and claims experience needs to be brought to the client's attention time and time again in a fairly intrusive manner and this is definitely not what they have seen going on in other brokerages.