Cases - Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable
Record details
- Name
- Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable
- Date
- [2009]
- Citation
- EWCA Civ 64 (CA)
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Insurance, Riot (Damages) Act 1886 Act - meaning of ‘liable as damages’ - tortious liability
- Summary
-
This case considered whether a public liability policy provided cover for property damage resulting from a riot at an immigration detention centre when the claim for damages was for strict liability.
Following a riot at the Yarls' Wood immigration detention centre in 2002, the Bedfordshire Police Authority brought a claim against its public liability insurers for compensation for property damage. The centre had been liable to pay compensation for property damage under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 regardless of whether it was at fault. The insurer denied the claim on the basis that the term ‘liable as damages’ in the centre’s public liability policy did not provide cover for a claim in strict liability.
The Court of Appeal concluded that the payment was covered by the policy, even though liability was statutory and strict, because liability under the 1886 Act included the concept of tort in that the police are responsible for law and order and, as such, they were notionally in breach of that responsibility.