International Expert Witness: Handling Insurance Disputes Across Borders

Where international expertise is needed

International claims arise in many settings: multinational property and business interruption programmes, marine cargo and hull losses, construction projects abroad, political risk and trade credit insurance, aviation incidents, product recalls across several markets and expatriate health or life claims. In each, the facts, the policy and the forum may sit in different countries.

The expert's task is the same as in a domestic case, to give an independent opinion on technical or financial questions, but the environment is more demanding. Local building practice, cost levels, accounting standards and regulatory requirements all need to be understood and explained to a tribunal that may come from yet another legal culture.

Master policies, local policies and conflicting wordings

Global insurance programmes often combine a master policy issued to the parent company with local policies issued in each country to satisfy local regulation. The local policy may pay first, with the master policy filling differences in conditions or limits. Valuations and loss calculations can therefore be required on two bases at once, and currency conversion dates, local taxes and reinstatement obligations can change the answer.

An expert who understands how such programmes are structured can prepare figures that reconcile both layers, avoiding gaps that insurers in different countries might otherwise exploit.

Arbitration, courts and expert evidence traditions

Large international insurance and reinsurance disputes are often resolved by arbitration, frequently seated in London, New York, Paris, Singapore or another established centre. Tribunals commonly draw on the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration, which address party-appointed experts, tribunal-appointed experts and expert conferencing.

Procedural traditions differ. Common law systems such as England and the US rely heavily on party-appointed experts tested by cross-examination. Many civil law systems rely more on court-appointed experts, with parties submitting observations through their own technical advisers. An international expert must adapt to the forum, for example by meeting the opposing expert to agree issues, or by giving evidence concurrently in a panel format.

• Independence and disclosure of any relationship with the parties
• Clear statement of instructions, assumptions and sources
• Ability to engage constructively with the opposing expert
• Comfort with written and oral evidence in the language of the proceedings
• Experience with the seat's procedural expectations

Language, translation and local knowledge

Key documents may be in several languages, and translation errors can distort technical meaning. Agree early which documents need certified translation and who will prepare it. An expert who reads the original language avoids many misunderstandings, but must still present findings in the language of the proceedings.

Teams of experts are common: a lead expert coordinates, while local specialists supply information on construction costs, permits, market prices or labour law. The lead expert must take responsibility for the final opinion and be ready to explain how local inputs were checked.

Financial and currency questions

Cross-border business interruption and property claims raise questions about which currency the loss is measured in, which exchange rate date applies, how intra-group transactions affect profit and how inflation in the country of loss should be treated. A forensic accountant with international experience can present alternatives and explain their effect, leaving the tribunal to decide the legal point while understanding the numbers.

Managing the cost of a multi-country team

International expert evidence can be expensive: travel, translations, local subcontractors and long hearings add up. Ask for a budget split by phase, agree in advance how local specialists will be billed, and set reporting milestones. Some commercial programmes include claims preparation costs cover, but limits and exclusions vary, so check each layer of the programme separately.

Practical steps for policyholders

Map every policy that may respond and the law and forum clause in each. Preserve evidence in each country, keeping a single index of documents. Appoint a coordinating adviser, usually a lawyer or broker, who can instruct experts consistently and prevent contradictory opinions. Finally, choose experts for their ability to explain clearly to a mixed audience; the most technically brilliant report achieves little if a tribunal from a different tradition cannot follow it.

Regulatory and sanctions considerations

Some international claims raise regulatory issues that experts must handle with care. Payments to or from certain countries may be affected by sanctions, local regulations may restrict which insurer can pay a claim, and data protection rules may limit how documents are transferred across borders. These are legal questions rather than expert questions, but they affect the practical work: which documents an expert can see, where inspections can take place and how quickly evidence can be shared. Raising them with lawyers before experts are instructed avoids delays and protects the policyholder from inadvertent breaches.

International claims reward organisation: one map of policies, one index of evidence and experts who can bridge legal and cultural differences. Getting that structure right early is often worth more than any single report.