Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Club Plc v Avon Insurance Plc & Ors

Cover under a personal accident policy required the accidental bodily injury to occasion permanent total disablement solely and independently of any other cause. The insured peril had to be a proximate cause, and a pre-existing condition need only be a contributing cause to prevent the insuring clause from responding. Statistical rarity of the injury was insufficient to establish causation. The court assessed the medical evidence and the particular incident on the balance of probabilities. Permanent total disablement was assessed by considering whether the insured was effectively prevented from pursuing his usual occupation, rather than by adopting an unduly narrow approach to actual participation.

Blackburn Rovers claimed £4 million under a personal accident policy issued by the defendant insurers after Martin Dahlin retired from professional football. Dahlin had injured his back during training in October 1997 and later developed continuing symptoms. The insurers accepted that an injury had occurred but contended that pre-existing degenerative disc disease was a cause of the disablement.

The Court of Appeal had previously considered the causation issues on 11 April 2005. At trial, further medical evidence was available, including evidence from spinal specialists. The central issues were whether Dahlin suffered permanent total disablement within the policy period and whether the October injury alone, independently of any other cause, occasioned that disablement.

1. The claim failed and judgment was entered for the insurers. The court found that Dahlin sustained an accidental bodily injury on or about 21 October 1997 and suffered permanent total disablement within the meaning of the policy.

2. Permanent total disablement was assessed broadly. The relevant question was when Dahlin was effectively prevented from engaging in his usual occupation as a professional footballer. His attempts to continue playing, use of anti-inflammatory medication, poor performance and the medical evidence showed that the October incident was the defining moment. The disablement therefore occurred within 24 months of the accident.

3. The policy nevertheless required the accidental bodily injury to occasion disablement solely and independently of any other cause. The insured peril had to be a proximate cause, and more than one proximate cause could exist. The authorities included Wayne Tank and Pump Co. Ltd. v Employers’ Liability Assurance Corporation Ltd. [1973] 2 Lloyds Rep. 237, Midland Mainline v. Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ltd. [2004] EWCA (Civ.) 1042 and Leyland Shipping Co. Ltd. v Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society Ltd [1918] AC 350.

4. The claimant’s reliance on the rarity of disabling disc prolapse among professional footballers was insufficient. Individual susceptibility and the particular medical evidence had to be considered. The evidence overwhelmingly established that degenerative disc disease was a cause of the continuing symptoms. It was unnecessary for that condition to be the sole cause: its operation as one cause meant that the requirement of sole and independent causation was not satisfied.

5. The claimant therefore failed to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the October injury alone occasioned permanent total disablement. The claim was dismissed.

The judgment refers to an earlier Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 11 April 2005 concerning causation. Its citation is not stated. This High Court judgment considered the substantially fuller medical evidence available at trial.