In a decision released on 19 November 2015, Simon Foote succeeded in persuading the Court of Appeal to set aside a statutory demand against Australian insurer AAI.The Court of Appeal decision contains useful commentary about the "substantial dispute" threshold applicable to applications to set aside statutory demands and found that the issue of a statutory demand against the multi-billion dollar insurer was an abuse of process in the circumstances.

The Court of Appeal decision continues Simon's success for insurers in matters arising out of the Canterbury earthquakes following Simon and David Goddard QC's successful defence acting for Vero Insurance in respect of a claim by Prattley Enterprises Limited in the High Court in June of this year.