Comino v Mercantile Mutual Insurance (Aust) Ltd

In *Comino v Mercantile Mutual Insurance (Aust) Ltd* [1997] NSWCA 73, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered a dispute between Mr Comino and Mercantile Mutual Insurance (Aust) Ltd concerning the interpretation of an insurance policy.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the appellant, Mr Comino, was entitled to indemnity under a public liability insurance policy for a claim made against him by a third party. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the circumstances giving rise to the third party's claim fell within the scope of the policy's coverage, or if they were excluded by its terms.

The Court's reasoning focused on the proper construction of the insurance policy wording, particularly the definitions of "occurrence" and "personal injury" and the application of exclusion clauses. The Court analysed the factual matrix of the third party's claim and compared it against the policy's insuring clauses and exclusions. The principles of contractual interpretation, including the ordinary meaning of words in their context and the contra proferentem rule where ambiguity arises, were applied. The Court ultimately found that the claim made against Mr Comino was not covered by the policy.

The appeal was dismissed.