Good Faith And Insurance Contracts

Good Faith and Insurance Contracts sets out an exhaustive analysis of the law concerning the duty of utmost good faith, as applied to insurance contracts. Now in its fourth edition, it has been updated to address the arrival of the Insurance Act 2015, as well as any references to new case law. In addition, it synthesises all known judicial decisions by the English Courts concerning good faith in this area. This book is still the only text devoted to a discussion of the duty of utmost good faith applicable to insurance contracts. As good faith is an issue which arises in respect of all insurance contracts, it is a book which will be extremely useful to lawyers involved in insurance as well as insurance practitioners.

Papers from a symposium held October 1998 at Aberdeen University.

In many legal systems around the world, whether civilian or common law, the doctrine of good faith is recognised as one of the general principles of contract law. By contrast, English law has taken a different approach, relying on a number of specific doctrines aimed at securing fair dealing but eschewing any general principle of good faith in contract. In the light of recent good faith provisions - such as those found in the EC Directives on Commercial Agents and on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts, as well as in the Lando Commission's 'Principles of European Contract Law' and the UNIDROIT 'Principles of International Commercial Contracts' - it is open to debate whether the English law of contract can, or indeed should, maintain its traditional approach.The purpose of the essays in this collection is to inform such a debate in two principal ways: first, by drawing out the competing conceptions (and concomitant credentials) of the idea of good faith in contract; and, secondly, by exploring the role of good faith in different contexts - for example, in the context of both consumer and commercial contracting, but also in the context of specific fields of contract law (such as insurance and financial services), particular patterns of doctrinal response to bad faith and unfair dealing and the various traditions of legal reasoning found around the world.The essays represent a significant international engagement with a question that is by no means of interest only to English lawyers. For, the perspectives presented by the European, Nordic, Israeli, North American, South African and Australian contributors to this book serve to illuminate our understanding of the idea of good faith whether our concern is with our own local legal system or, beyond that, with the elaboration of principles of contract law for regional or global application.

This book provides an in-depth examination of the theoretical,legal, social and economic foundations to disclosure and concealment of information in relation to the formation of consumer insurance contracts. A comparative treatment of this issue is undertaken with particular attention given to the judicial and legislative approaches adopted in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. It will be relevant to those researching and studying insurance law, all legal practitioners involved with the formation of consumer insurance contracts and non-legal practitioners working within the field of insurance.

An insurance contract is one of the most significant documents an average consumer signs in the course of his or her adult life. It defines the scope and measure of protection available to the policy holder should the risk eventuate. Insurers similarly view the information supplied during contract negotiations as critical. As it provides a basis for assessing the risk inherent in issuing the policy, failure to disclose information fully and accurately can skew calculation of the risk level inherent in the deal and of the appropriate premium payable. For this reason, insurance contracts have traditionally been treated as a special category of business dealing. Unlike standard contracts based on caveat emptor, – let buyers beware – insurance contracts bind both insurers and consumers to a higher duty of honesty and good faith in their dealings with each other. Failure to fully disclose information that may affect an insurer’s calculation of risk in taking on the contract can potentially, therefore, result in the valid rejection of a policy holder’s claim.Given the potentially devastating consequences claim denial carries for policy holders, this book outlines the current legal regulatory framework governing this area and assesses its capacity to provide a just and efficient set of standards for the exchange of this information in the pre-contracting stage.

This Volume of the AIDA Europe Research Series on Insurance Law and Regulation focuses on transparency as the guiding principle of modern insurance law. It consists of chapters written by leaders in the respective field, who address transparency in a range of civil and common law jurisdictions, along with overview chapters. Each chapter reviews the transparency principles applicable in the jurisdiction discussed. Whether expressly or impliedly, all jurisdictions recognize a duty on the part of the insured to make a fair presentation of the risk when submitting a proposal for cover to the insurers, although there is little consensus on the scope of that duty. Disputed matters in this regard include: whether it is satisfied by honest answers to express questions, or whether there is a spontaneous duty of disclosure; whether facts relating to the insured’s character, as opposed to the nature of the risk itself, are to be presented to the insurers; the role of insurance intermediaries in the placement process; and the remedy for breach of duty. Transparency is, however, a much wider concept. Potential policyholders are in principle entitled to be made aware of the key terms of coverage and to be warned of hidden traps (such as conditions precedent, average clauses and excess provisions), but there are a range of different approaches. Some jurisdictions have adopted a “soft law” approach, using codes of practice for pre-contract disclosure, while other jurisdictions employ the rather nebulous duty of (utmost) good faith. Leaving aside placement, transparency is also demanded after the policy has been incepted. The insured is required to be transparent during the claims process. There is less consistency in national legislation regarding the implementation of transparency by insurers in the context of handling claims.