Email is the "Achilles heel of insurance contract litigation" warned Dennis Wade at a market briefing held by the International Underwriting Association.
Insurers and reinsurers could be risking costly claims litigation by making informal comments in email discussions with loss adjusters and other business partners said Wake, a founding partner of insurance law firm Wade Clark Mulcahy.
By using email a permanent record of informal comments is made which could later be used in action on a disputed claim said Wade. He said the risk had been much smaller when such discussions were conducted over the phone or face-to-face.
"Even deleted records can be recovered whereas once a piece of paper is shredded it is gone forever," said Wade. "We have to start thinking carefully about email and start treating it as another form of written communication because that is what is in the law."
