Technical Products Pty Ltd v State Government Insurance Office (Qld)

Technical Products Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Supreme Court of Queensland. The dispute concerned the appellant's claim for indemnity under a policy of insurance issued by the State Government Insurance Office (Qld) (the respondent). The policy covered damage to the appellant's property, including a building and its contents, arising from a fire. The respondent denied liability on the basis that the appellant had breached a condition of the policy by failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the fire from spreading.

The High Court was required to determine whether the appellant had breached the condition of the policy requiring it to take reasonable steps to prevent the fire from spreading. This involved considering the nature of the appellant's actions or omissions in the context of the fire and assessing whether those actions or omissions fell short of what a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances to mitigate the spread of the fire.

The Court held that the appellant had not breached the condition. Brennan, Deane, Dawson, Toohey and Gaudron JJ reasoned that the appellant's employees had acted reasonably in attempting to extinguish the fire and in evacuating the premises. The Court emphasised that the standard of reasonableness required was that of a reasonable insured person, not a professional firefighter. The Court found that the evidence did not establish that any further steps could have been reasonably taken by the appellant to prevent the spread of the fire, particularly given the rapid and intense nature of the conflagration.

The appeal was allowed, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Queensland was set aside. The High Court ordered that the respondent pay the appellant's claim for indemnity under the policy.