18 June 2012 7:12am

Credit insurer Atradius does not have to pay out a A$27 million claim to Optus over invoices unpaid at the time of the collapse of Bill Express when the latter collapsed in mid-2008, the Supreme Court of New South Wales has ruled.

Inadequate disclosure by Optus to Atradius about the history of slow payments by Bill Express, as well as inadequate drafting of clauses in the insurance contract relating to a sub-agency agreement, helped persuade the judge, Robert McDougall, that the insurer does not have to pay.

At the time Bill Express folded, the firm owed Optus in excess of $62...