Total must pay out

Oil company Total will have to pay insurers a large chunk of the £700m damages caused by the 2005 Buncefield explosion, after a long court battle.

Since last October it had argued that Chevron – which co-owns the Hertfordshire Oil Storage facility with Total – should pay a share of the costs.

But Mr Justice David Steel ruled in the High Court last week that the French oil giant, rather than Chevron, was responsible for the explosion near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in December 2005.

Allianz has settled £5m in property and business interruption claims, and will now look to claw that back from Total.

Harry Rule, property claims manager for Allianz, said: “The in-fighting between Total and Chevron over how they share the cost has caused another layer of delay in what has been a three-year legal jamboree involving successive attempts to deny paying compensation for many of the losses suffered.

“Claimants have been forced to wait – this includes Allianz – and unnecessary legal expense incurred since the trial began last October.”