The Dubai Commercial Court of Appeal upheld a judgment issued by a Court of First Instance, that rejected an insurance company's claim for AED 1.25 billion from six contractors over the Address Hotel fire that broke out on New Year's Eve 2015. The insurance company which attempted to recover the AED 1.25 billion it had paid as part of an insurance claim, has lost its case in the Dubai Civil Court.

Following a blaze that broke out in the 63-storey hotel owned by Emaar Properties, its UAE-based insurer, Orient Insurance, paid the developer AED 1.25 billion to cover the losses resulting from the fire.

After the settlement, Orient Insurance lodged a civil case at Dubai Courts accusing contractors who worked on the design, construction, and maintenance of the hotel – including ALEC Engineering and Construction, Mirage and GAJ, Atkins, and Arabtec – of failing to implement fire safety requirements and therefore contributing to the spread of the fire. The company requested that they be paid back the insurance amounts they had paid to Emaar.

A competent technical committee was assigned to examine the claimed faults of the design, construction, and maintenance of the Hotel. Documents presented to the court included reports by the committee which stated that the contractors had not been found at fault whatsoever and that the fire had been caused by an electrical short-circuit. The judgment cited reports by the committee which said that there were no errors in the manner in which the building was constructed.

The case was dismissed, however, a ruling in favor of the contractors was upheld by the Dubai Court of Appeal. This decision can be appealed within 60 days.

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