Insurance Disputes Lawyer Perth
When your insurer has denied, delayed, or underpaid your claim, what you do next matters.
Insurance disputes rarely resolve themselves. Left unaddressed, a denied claim becomes a cash flow problem, a coverage dispute becomes a distraction, and a policy interpretation issue becomes a gradual erosion of your position. The right time to get clear legal advice is early — while you still have time to build the strongest possible response.
Zorić Legal is a specialist insurance disputes practice based in Perth. We act for businesses, insurers, and individuals across Western Australia in claims and coverage matters of every type — from straightforward policy disputes to complex multi-party claims. Our focus is the same in every matter: clear assessment of where you stand, honest advice on your options, and decisive action where it’s needed.
A Perth insurance disputes practice built on extensive experience
Insurance law is its own discipline. The policy wording matters. The sequence of communications with the insurer matters. The timing of expert reports matters. And the strategic choices early in a dispute — whether to engage AFCA, whether to push for mediation, whether to prepare for proceedings — often determine the outcome more than the merits do.
Alena Zorić has spent most of her career in specialist insurance practice, including senior roles at three of Australia’s leading insurance firms before founding Zorić Legal. That experience spans both sides of the claim: acting for insurers evaluating and defending claims, and for insureds challenging decisions and pursuing recovery.
That dual perspective matters. When you can see how the other side thinks, you make better decisions about how to engage, when to push, when to settle, and how to frame your position for the best commercial outcome.
Insurance matters we act on
Our insurance disputes practice covers the full range of claims and coverage issues affecting Western Australian businesses and individuals:
- Denied claims — challenging refusals to indemnify where the denial is inadequately reasoned or legally incorrect.
- Coverage disputes — disagreements over whether a loss or event falls within the policy’s scope.
- Policy interpretation — ambiguous wording, exclusions, conditions, and warranties requiring legal analysis.
- Underpaid claims — where the insurer has accepted the claim, but the offer doesn’t reflect the true loss.
- Business interruption claims — calculating and recovering losses arising from disruption to operations.
- Professional indemnity matters — claims made against you under a PI policy, and disputes over coverage for such claims.
- Property damage claims — fire, storm, water damage, and other commercial property losses.
- Construction and project insurance — works, liability, and indemnity claims arising from construction projects.
- Liability and indemnity claims — public and product liability, contractual indemnity disputes, and third-party claims.
- Subrogated recovery actions — recovering losses on behalf of insurers from third parties responsible for the damage.
- Non-disclosure and misrepresentation issues — disputes where the insurer alleges failure to disclose material facts at underwriting.
- Regulatory and compliance matters — disputes involving APRA, ASIC, or other regulators in insurance contexts.
If your matter doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories, it’s still worth a conversation. Insurance disputes rarely come pre-labelled, and the practical classification often only becomes clear after a proper review of the policy and claim history.
Acting for insurers and insureds
Zorić Legal acts for both sides of insurance claims. For insureds — businesses and individuals — this means legal strategy built on genuine understanding of how insurers evaluate claims, what pressure points move them, and how coverage decisions are actually made internally.
For insurers and their insureds, it means legal support that moves efficiently, protects commercial and reputational interests, and manages the policyholder relationship with care. We understand the dynamics of claims management, the pressure of timeframes, the complexity of multi-party matters, and the commercial considerations that sit alongside the legal ones.
Acting on both sides of the claim isn’t a contradiction — it’s a professional advantage, and in insurance it’s the norm for experienced practitioners. Each matter is run on its own merits, with rigorous conflict checking and clear professional boundaries.
How we work with you
- A clear assessment at the outset. After reviewing your policy and the claim history, you’ll have a written view of the position — what the policy says, how it’s likely to be interpreted, where the strengths and weaknesses sit, and what we recommend doing next.
- Honest advice on your options. Insurance disputes can be resolved through direct negotiation with the insurer, through AFCA complaints, through mediation, or through court proceedings. Each has different costs, timeframes, and strategic implications. We’ll tell you which is the right fit for your matter and why.
- Direct access to a principal lawyer. Your matter is run by Alena, not delegated down a chain of junior lawyers. When you call, you speak to the person making the decisions on your file.
- Fixed fees where possible. For defined pieces of work — policy reviews, letters of demand, AFCA complaint preparation, mediation preparation — we offer fixed fees so you can budget with certainty. Complex matters are billed hourly with an upfront estimate and regular updates.
- A commercial view on every decision. Insurance disputes exist to deliver a commercial outcome, not to vindicate a legal position. We keep the commercial result in focus at every stage — including telling you when a matter has stopped making commercial sense to pursue.
About Alena Zorić
Alena is the Principal Lawyer at Zorić Legal. She has over a decade of experience in commercial disputes with deep specialisation in insurance law, developed through senior roles at leading insurance law firms. She is admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the High Court of Australia, and has appeared in courts throughout Western Australia and South Australia.
Alena is also an AMDRAS-accredited mediator and an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Law Australia, where she teaches the next generation of Australian lawyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to challenge a denied insurance claim?
It depends on the type of policy and the path you take. AFCA (the Australian Financial Complaints Authority) generally requires complaints to be lodged within two years of the insurer’s final decision. Limitation periods for court proceedings are separate and can be shorter or longer depending on the circumstances. The safest approach is to get advice as soon as a claim is denied, delayed, or underpaid — limitation issues are easier to manage when they’re identified early.
Do I have to go to court to dispute an insurance decision?
Usually no. Most insurance disputes resolve through direct negotiation with the insurer, through an AFCA complaint, or through mediation. Court proceedings are one tool among several — and often not the best first step. That said, the credible prospect of litigation is sometimes what changes the insurer’s position, so preparing the matter properly from the start is important even if settlement is the likely outcome.
What is AFCA and when is it the right path?
AFCA is the external dispute resolution body for financial services, including insurance. It’s free for consumers, binding on the insurer up to monetary limits, and generally faster than court proceedings. AFCA is often the right path for smaller-value disputes and for individuals or small businesses where court costs would be disproportionate. For larger commercial disputes, AFCA may be too limited, and court proceedings are more appropriate. We’ll advise on which path suits your matter.
What does it cost to get legal advice on an insurance dispute?
We offer a free initial consultation to understand your matter and give you a clear view of your options and the likely costs involved. From there, we use fixed fees for defined scopes of work — policy reviews, letters, AFCA complaint preparation — and hourly billing with upfront estimates for complex matters where scope is genuinely uncertain.
Can you act for me against a major national or international insurer?
Yes. We regularly deal with major insurers and their legal teams, both in Australia and internationally. The size of the insurer doesn’t change the legal principles — it sometimes changes the negotiation dynamic, which is something experience helps with.
I’m an insurer or broker — can Zorić Legal act for us?
Yes. Much of Alena’s career has been acting for insurers and their insureds, across coverage advice, recovery actions, and defending proceedings. We’re familiar with the pressures of the claims environment and work to integrate seamlessly with internal claims teams.
Speak to a Perth Insurance Disputes Lawyer
If you’re facing a denied claim, a coverage dispute, or an insurance issue that’s starting to affect your business, early advice almost always costs less than delay. The first consultation is free and focused on giving you a clear view of where you stand and what your options are.