There is no consistent exclusion clause in respect of strikes and lockouts in the London market in respect of All Risk Property Insurance (ARPI) policies.

Some policies cover liability in full. Others exclude liability but provide endorsements up to upper limits of liability. Other policies include liability but provide additional deductibles for each and every loss. Rarely do the policies contain definitions and, as yet, there is no authority as to how the courts might consider these phrases in the context of insurance. Certainly, the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 (“the Act”) contains definitions for these terms and in the absence of any other assistance the courts may use them in the interpretation of an All Risk Property Insurance (ARPI) policy. Under the Act the key elements of the word “strike” appear to be:

– there has to be a concerted refusal by a number of people to continue to work for one employer;

– it has to be in consequence of a dispute; and

– it has to be undertaken as a means of forcing the employer to accept the terms or conditions affecting employment.

So far as lockout is concerned, the elements there are to be considered as follows:

– the closing of the place of employment or suspension of work or the refusal of an employer to employ a number of people as a result of a dispute; and

– it should be done with a view to compelling those people to accept terms and conditions affecting employment.

A