Apex court dismisses luxury car firm’s bid to revive RM1.5mil insurance claim

 The Federal Court upholds the Court of Appeal’s Feb 9 ruling that an insurance company was justified in repudiating the claim over an accident involving a Ferrari.

Bespoke Motoring Sdn Bhd had filed a question of law on the effect of AmGeneral Insurance Bhd’s conditional settlement offer and whether the insurer could repudiate the claim after discovering the false claim.

PUTRAJAYA:

The Federal Court has dismissed a luxury car company’s application for leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision that found an insurance firm was justified in repudiating a RM1.5 million insurance claim arising from an accident involving a Ferrari.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Nordin Hassan said Bespoke Motoring Sdn Bhd failed to meet the threshold under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 for leave to appeal to the apex court.

Leave to appeal is granted only when a case raises novel legal or constitutional issues of public importance. If leave had been granted, Bespoke would have sought to restore the High Court’s previous ruling in its favour.

Justices Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh and P Ravinthran also sat on the bench. Bespoke was ordered to pay AmGeneral Insurance Bhd RM50,000 in costs.

The Federal Court’s decision means the Court of Appeal’s Feb 9 ruling stands.

The case arose from an accident on Oct 5, 2018, involving Bespoke’s Ferrari, which was insured for RM1.79 million.

AmGeneral initially offered a RM1,505,250 settlement but repudiated the claim after CCTV footage showed that the driver had driven against traffic for a considerable distance, a material fact not disclosed in the claim form.

The insurer maintained that the non-disclosure amounted to a breach of the insured’s duty of full, frank and honest disclosure when making the claim.

The High Court initially ruled in Bespoke’s favour, awarding it about RM1.5 million. AmGeneral appealed, and on Feb 9, 2026, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment.

In its grounds, the appellate court found that the driver’s non-disclosure of his conduct was material and breached the insured’s duty of utmost good faith.

Bespoke then sought leave to appeal to the Federal Court and filed a question of law concerning the effect of AmGeneral’s conditional settlement offer and whether the insurer could repudiate the claim after discovering the false claim.

Lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Ashok Kandiah, Lim Yvonne and Mishand Patmanathan appeared for Bespoke, while Cyrus Das, JS Naicker and Sabreena Sidhu appeared for the insurance company. - FMT