Grant Pilkington

Grant is an English qualified solicitor and has over 17 years of legal experience with major international law firms, handling contentious and non-contentious re/insurance matters throughout Asia and the Middle East.

Grant specialises in helping insurance businesses – particularly brokers, insurers and MGAs – draft and develop re/insurance products across all commercial business classes, including industry and financial specialty lines. He routinely advises on big complex re/insurance placements and renewals, including multi-billion-dollar exposures.

As a transactional re/insurance lawyer, Grant has developed and negotiated re/insurance contract wordings for policyholders, intermediaries, Lloyd’s and international company markets. He works across the pricing spectrum covering multinational re/insurance programmes, mid-market and SME business, portfolios and facilities.

Professional learning and development is a key part of Grant’s practice. He provides full training programmes and bespoke training solutions for brokers, claims managers and other risk professionals, recently delivering over 2,000 aggregate training hours across Asia.

Grant is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events, including PARIMA, Construction Risk Management Asia and the Lloyd’s Asia platform Singapore.

He is a member of the Insurance Law Association of Singapore (ILAS) and sits on the ILAS general committee.

Practice areas

Insurance and Reinsurance

Representative matters

Insurance and Reinsurance

Multinational re/insurance programmes

Reviewing and negotiating policy terms under a monoline trade credit re/insurance for a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, headquartered in India, and operating across 56 countries with a top line of c. USD20 billion.
Advising on and preparing manuscript policy terms under a multinational Property and Business Interruption (PDBI) re/insurance programme for one of the largest conglomerates in Asia, headquartered in Indonesia, with exposures in the region of US$3 billion.
Advising a national Thai oil company regarding automatic extension conditions under the reinsurance of a combined Marine Cargo Open Cover and Delay in Start Up product for marine project cargo, covering exposures in the region of c. US$730 million.
Drafting manuscript policy terms from ‘first principles’ under a PDBI re/insurance programme for a Singaporean multinational real estate developer and operating company, with a total limit of US$700 million.
Advising and developing a cyber insurance policy covering first-party, third party liability and cybercrime risks for an international bank headquartered in Singapore, with c. US$400 million aggregate exposure.
Reviewing and preparing manuscript policy terms under a Port & Terminal Operators’ Liability programme worth c. US$220 million, for a multinational port operator and supply chain company headquartered in Singapore.
Advising on and reviewing a US$50 million multinational re/insurance programme for commercial general liability covering a private equity fund management firm headquartered in Hong Kong.

Facilities, mid-market and SME

Lead counsel for Aon’s ‘flagship’ digital trading platform for mid-market clients in Asia, benchmarking, developing and negotiating facility policy wordings, devising a pre-approved suite of endorsements tailored for specific business risks and industry sectors. Preparing and negotiating licensing and distribution agreements with panel insurers.
Advising on and devising business package wordings for SME clients under a facility in Singapore, including Industrial Special Risks, Commercial General Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Employers’ Liability, Professional Indemnity, Cyber and Investment Management insurances. Providing related regulatory advice regarding compliance with domestic law and regulations.
Reviewing and developing a monoline Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance product under a standalone facility for SME and mid-market clients in Singapore. Benchmarking local market and best-in-class D&O products.

Insurance product innovation and development

Developing a prototype contractual (warranty) liability policy for an equipment manufacturer in the renewable energy sector with a leading Lloyd’s market insurer.
Developing an innovative pandemic parametric policy with a major international insurer covering against communicable disease risks for local government authorities in a Southeast Asia country.
Developing bespoke endorsements providing coverage in respect of carbon credits, carbon offsets and reduction expenses within PDBI programmes.
Developing risk transfer solutions in respect of PFAS chemical liabilities including a coverage ‘buy-back’ on stop-loss terms and first-party coverage for clean-up and removal for fire and named perils.

Professional training & teaching appointments

Devising and delivering a programme of 6x3hour workshops covering insurance principles and practice, providing >2,000 aggregate training hours for broking, claims and sales role functions across Asia, including instructor-led seminars, interactive ‘job simulation’ case studies, bespoke training materials, model answers and online self-assessment.
Devising and delivering an interactive workshop for 30 frontlines brokers introducing policy coverage, drafting skills and insurance contract interpretation under Philippines law and practice.
Devising and delivering an interactive workshop for 60 frontlines brokers introducing policy coverage, drafting skills and insurance contract interpretation under Thai law and practice.
Devising and delivering a standalone workshop regarding design risks, defects liabilities and professional indemnity insurance for senior leadership, risk managers and quantity surveyors at a Japanese construction company specializing in marine projects and land reclamation. This workshop was vital in advising the client regarding Single Project Professional Indemnity Insurance (SPPI) products and led to the client’s first ever purchase of SPPI coverage for a major Singapore infrastructure project.
Authoring risk alerts, case law round-ups, client and broker facing guidance and thought leadership articles, including guidance on Ukraine/Russia sanctions and multinational programmes, interpreting sanctions clauses, exclusions regarding climate change, communicable disease, ‘silent’ cyber coverage, PFAS chemical liability and war risks, underinsurance and average, governing law and jurisdiction in re/insurance contracts and financial interest clauses.

Professional memberships

Law Society of England & Wales.
The Insurance Law Association of Singapore.

Admissions

Solicitor, England and Wales.

Academic records

University of Oxford: B.A. (Hons) Jurisprudence; M.A. (Oxon).
Oxford Institute of Legal Practice: Post-graduate diploma in legal practice (with Distinction).