WWII unexploded bomb property damage case goes to Court of Appeal

Judges at the Court of Appeal are today (7 November) being asked to decide whether damage caused by the controlled detonation of a Second World War bomb is covered by a property insurance policy. The case, Allianz Insurance plc v University of Exeter, centres on an incident in  February 2021 when construction workers discovered an unexploded bomb near the University of Exeter’s halls of residence. The army was called in and the bomb was destroyed with a controlled explosion. Even so, it did some damage to surrounding buildings, including the halls of residence. The university claimed for the damage under its insurance policy with Allianz. However, Allianz refused the claim, saying it was “occasioned by war” and therefore excluded. The university took the issue to the High Court, arguing that the damage was caused by controlled explosion in 2021, not the dropping of the bomb in 1942. The case was heard in January, and in March High Court judge HH Judge Bird backed the insurer and dismissed the university’s claim ([2023] EWHC 630 (TCC)). The university appealed, and the case is now being heard by a three-judge panel. At today’s hearing, David Pliener KC, for the university, said that the lower court judge “was plainly wrong”. “What was the meaningful, efficient, proximate cause of this damage? It can’t be the dropping of the bomb 80 years earlier,” he said. “There is no evidence to say that the bomb would ever have caused damage had it not been discovered,” he added. “We say that the only thing that meaningfully explains the damage is that in February 2021 a bomb was discovered for a variety or reasons which might not apply if the bomb had been found a year earlier or a year later.” The “agency of change”, he said “was the discovery and detonation” of the bomb. The judges will hand down their decision at a later date. Allianz Insurance plc v University of Exeter Court of Appeal, 7 November 2023 To send feedback, e-mail newsdesk@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews SEE ALSO: Legal note – Bombshell ruling for University of Exeter Practice point – Bomb damage to buildings: not covered by insurance policy excluding war damage Photo by Shutterstock