385JRights of third-party claimants against insurers of regulated offshore installations

1. This section applies if the owner of a regulated offshore installation is alleged to have incurred liability to a person (a claimant) under any of the following sections:

2. section 385B (liability to the Crown and marine agencies for costs of cleaning up pollution):
3. section 385C (liability for pollution damage from marine structures and operations):
4. section 385D (liability for unattributable pollution damage from marine structures and operations).

5. The claimant may recover the insured amount of the liability from any person (in this section, the insurer) providing insurance or other financial security for the owner’s liability for pollution damage to which any certificate of insurance referred to in section 385H relates.

6. The insured amount of the liability is the amount of indemnity (if any) payable under the terms of the contract of insurance or other financial security in respect of the owner’s liability to the claimant.

7. Proceedings may only be brought by a claimant against an insurer under this section with the leave of the court.

8. In proceedings brought by a claimant against an insurer under this section,—

9. the insurer stands in the place of the owner as if the proceedings were proceedings to recover damages, compensation, or costs from the owner; and
10. the parties have the same rights and liabilities, and the court has the same powers, as if the proceedings were proceedings brought against the insured person; and
11. the insurer is entitled to rely on any defence or any other matter in answer to the claim or in reduction of its liability to the claimant—
    1. that the insurer would have been entitled to rely on in a claim made by the owner under the terms of the contract of insurance or other financial security; or
    2. that the owner would have been entitled to rely on in proceedings brought by the claimant against the owner in respect of the liability.

12. However, despite subsections (3) and (5)(c)(i), the insurer is not entitled to rely on any defence arising from an act or omission by the owner that occurred after the event that gave rise to the liability (for example, a defence based on a failure by the owner to comply with a condition that the owner provide information or assistance to the insurer).

13. Nothing in this section—

14. entitles a claimant to recover any amount from a re-insurer under a contract or arrangement for re-insurance:
15. prejudices any claim, or the enforcement of any claim, by any person against the owner of a regulated offshore installation in respect of pollution damage.

16. Any payment made by the insurer to the claimant under this section in respect of the liability discharges, to the extent of the payment, the liability of the insurer to make a payment to the owner under the terms of the contract of insurance or other financial security in respect of the liability.

17. An insurer’s liability to a claimant under this section is not reduced, discharged, or otherwise affected by—

18. any compromise or settlement between the insurer and the owner in respect of the liability; or
19. any payment by the insurer to the owner in respect of the liability unless and to the extent that the amount of the payment is or has been paid by the owner to the claimant in respect of the liability.