Work of art? Yes, says judge in Lladro quake case

'Car in Trouble' - a work of art?

A Christchurch retiree can only claim up to $20,000 of insurance for a $210,000 collection of Spanish porcelain damaged in the region's 2011 earthquake, a judge has decided.

Retired businessman Brian Newbery is a vintage car enthusiast and also collects Lladro porcelain pieces that depict these sorts of vehicles and other figures.

Thirty items of Lladro belonging to Newbery and his wife were damaged in Christchurch's 2011 earthquake and carry a replacement cost of $210,065.

One of Newbery's pieces, called "Car in Trouble" with dimensions of 42cm x 66cm , would cost $24,500 alone to replace.

Newbery had contents insurance with AA and under that policy its liability for "works of art" like ornaments or sculptures was limited to $20,000 in a single event.

Newbery did not list the Lladro items as being works of art in his insurance documents and contended they were covered by the normal part of the contents policy.

When the issue came before the High Court's Justice Gerald Nation last month, he had to decide whether parties to the insurance contract would have agreed the term sculptures or ornaments would include the Lladro pieces and if they were caught by the policy limit.

Much of the to-and-fro before the judge was over whether or not Lladro should be referred to as such and included evidence from the likes of Dunbar Sloane, the head of the auction house of the same name.

Newbery himself said ornaments referred to trinkets, sculptures to solid heavy items and that the best term for Lladro was "figurines".

The judge said dictionaries defined both words widely enough that one could potentially refer Lladro as either ornaments or sculptures.

In his decision released yesterday afternoon, Justice Nation said any reasonable person wanting to insure the Lladro items would have considered them ornaments.

'A Great Adventure' - another Lladro work of art.

"I thus find that each Lladro piece, in respect of which this claim has been made, comes within the meaning of "ornament" as that term is used in the definition of "works of art" in the policy. There is accordingly only limited cover available in respect of the damage done to all such items," Justice Nation said.

"...Mr Newbery must fail on his claim. The amount which he may be able to recover from the insurer under the policy is thus limited through the way these items are to be treated as works of art, with the limited cover as specified. Just what amount the insurer might have to pay in respect of those items will depend on what other claims have been made in respect of other items which come within that definition," the judge said.

Read the full judges decision here: (Images of the pieces on Pages 3 and 4)