Belinda Normandale
Principal AssociateBiography
Belinda is an experienced solicitor in the field of cross-border insurance and personal injury law, with particular expertise in international motor accidents and catastrophic injury, including fatalities, brain injury and amputations.
She acts for defendants and their insurers. She advises on insurance litigation, motor liability, ski accidents, catastrophic injury, fatalities, applicable law and jurisdiction queries.
Belinda has a strong understanding of the law in several European jurisdictions. She has excellent technical skills and is known for her proactive and tenacious approach to claims. She is respected for providing clear, pragmatic advice.
She has handled cases involving the laws of France, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Italy, Romania and Cyprus.
Belinda is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL).
Sample cases include:
- Represented the insurer of a Bulgarian lorry driver following a multi-party fatal collision on a motorway in the UK.
- Acted for a Spanish insurer defending a fraudulent claim brought by an English Claimant following a road traffic collision in Spain. The claim was struck out following disclosure of surveillance evidence.
- Represented a Belgian Insurer after a claim was brought by English nationals in the wrong jurisdiction. The claim was struck out.
- Acted for a French insurer in defending a fraudulent claim brought by a “phantom passenger”.
Reported cases include:
- Moore v MACIF [2022] 10 WLUK 621: The court considered the application of the principle of forum non conveniens in circumstances where claimants domiciled in England, who had been injured in a road traffic accident in France, wished to bring their claim in the English courts. As their claims were'service out' claims, the burden of proof was on them, in line with Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd [1987] A.C. 460, [1986] 11 WLUK 189, to not only show that England was the appropriate forum but that it was clearly so. That had not been shown and the court found that France was the appropriate forum.
