Insurance Australia Ltd (ABN 11000016722) trading as NRMA Insurance v Checchia

Insurance Australia Ltd, trading as NRMA Insurance (the appellant), appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision concerning a claim made by Mr. Checchia (the respondent). The core of the dispute involved the appellant's contention that the respondent's written submissions on appeal did not comply with the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (NSW) (UCPR), specifically rule 51.36.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the respondent's written submissions, filed on 26 March 2010 and supplemented on 31 May 2010, satisfied the requirements of UCPR r 51.36. This rule mandates that written submissions on appeal must include a "statement in narrative form" that is separately identifiable. The appellant argued that the respondent's submissions failed to meet this requirement, thereby potentially impacting the validity of those submissions.

Macfarlan JA, in considering the appeal, focused on the interpretation of UCPR r 51.36(2). His Honour determined that the rule requires the statement in narrative form to be clearly distinguishable within the overall submissions. Having reviewed the appellant's submissions, Macfarlan JA concluded that they did, in fact, comply with the rule. Consequently, the Court of Appeal made an order directing that the appellant's submissions filed on 26 March 2010, as supplemented by the amended attachment supplied on 31 May 2010, stand as the appellant's submissions on the appeal.