Dispute over $2 mill life policy heads back to court

The dispute relates to a $2 million dollar life policy which Abdur Miah and his wife Afrouza took out with AXA 11 months before Mrs Miah, who was a New Zealand citizen, was murdered by her brother-in-law during a visit to Bangladesh in May 2007.

Mr Miah was acquitted of any involvement in the crime, however because he was bankrupted a month prior to his wife's death AXA refused to pay his insurance claim on the grounds of material non-disclosure of his financial difficulties.

Legal action followed, but when Mr Miah's suit against AXA came before the High Court in 2015, Associate Judge Doogue granted AXA's application for summary judgement to strike the matter out on the basis that there was no seriously arguable claim.

The strike out decision was subsequently challenged in the Court of Appeal where Mr Miah successfully argued that, as the executor of his wife's will, he had a valid claim to her half of the policy.