The recent case of Hoddinott is a warning for solicitor insureds that the rules on disputing the jurisdiction of the Court will be applied very strictly.

The facts of Ramwade are simple: the defendant insurance brokers were retained to effect comprehensive insurance cover of skip lorries owned by the claimant. They failed to do so and when one of their lorries was written off in an accident they sued to recover not only the value of the vehicle but also the cost of hiring a replacement vehicle.

In June 2007 the FSA published its new Code of Practice on Contract Certainty. The Market Reform Contract has also been published, the guidance notes to which provide further practical illustrations of how the Contract Certainty guidelines are intended to operate.

Last month, the Association of Chief Police Officers announced it was clamping down on mortgage fraud following the revelation that the industry had been swindled out of £700 million through various scams.

Although the FSA initially rejected the implementation of a regime of mandatory commission disclosure, that is not the end of the matter.

In June 2007, Simon Gildener reviewed the High Court decision of “Wasa v Lexington” in “Following the Settlements: How not to clean up!” in 2008 the Court of Appeal has revisited the decision, and Simon examines the higher court’s different approach.

Things are changing fast in the London insurance markets (“the London market”) from a practice and regulatory perspective, with the introduction of the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) Contract Certainty Code of Practice being a landmark development in July 2007.

In January 2007 KPMG reported that “Fraud continues to soar in 2006”.

Beset by delays since its unveiling in the Housing Act 2004, the age of the much vaunted, much derided, Home Information Pack has finally arrived. Sarah Richards and Hilary Harrison consider the roles of the home inspector and the domestic energy assessor, the new breeds of professional created under the HIP regime.

Simon Gildener reviews the recent reinsurance coverage case of Wasa v Lexington1 and considers what lessons may be learned by reassureds seeking to enhance their prospects of a successful reinsurance recovery.