The first instance circuit of the Qatar International Court (Justices Robertson, Hamilton and Arestis) has delivered its judgement in a case brought by a policy holder against an insurance company operating within the QFC.
The claimant had sought recovery of what he alleged to be emergency medical costs in the sum of QR617,400.95 incurred while on a family trip to the US. The defendant declined to pay the aforementioned sum on the basis that the insurance policy in question - although worldwide in scope - only covered treatment in the US that fell within the policy definition of ‘emergency’.
The circumstances of this case were not, the defendant contented, such as to constitute an emergency and so there was no liability on behalf of the defendant to pay out.
During the course of the trial, the court considered - among other things - various pieces of medical evidence, including oral testimony from an eminent medical expert from
the UK.
The court, which expressed considerable sympathy with the position the claimant and his family found themselves in, nevertheless concluded that while the treatment received was undoubtedly required, it did not fall within the policy definition of emergency and so the costs of the treatment were not recoverable from the defendant, according to a statement from the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.
The court ordered the claimant to pay the defendant’s reasonable costs in the case which, if not agreed, are to be assessed by the registrar.
Both parties have 60 days from the date of judgment in which to file an application to the court seeking permission to appeal.
The judgment of the court can be viewed on its website at www.qicdrc.com.qa/the-courts/
judgments
