Loss Adjusters And The Law Flashcards
In Loss Adjusting there are laws that govern your responsibilities, these fall into three categories. What are the three categories?
1- Common law
2- Statute law
3- Contract law
1- What is common law?
2- What is the common law standard for loss adjusters?
1- Common law is a system of law primarily based on precedents coming out of the court system.
2- The standard required is that of the ordinary skilled loss adjuster exercising their skills in the normal way, they need to ensure they exercise reasonable skill and care.
What is statute law?
Statute law is made by Parliament or delegated authorities. Overrides common-law if they are in conflict.
What is contract law?
Contract law is a specific legal area that regulates dealings whether written or not between two or more parties.
1- What is the self regulatory code that operates within New Zealand?
2- Who was this code developed by, and what is its aim?
1- The Fair Insurance Code
2- The code was developed by the insurance Council of New Zealand. The codes aim is to continually improve the standard of practice and services provided by insurance companies in New Zealand.
What must all members of the Insurance Council of New Zealand do with regards to the Fair Insurance Code?
All members of the Insurance Council of New Zealand must comply with this code, and ensure that it is promoted to its customers.
When researching the law during a loss adjusting assignment, what process do you need to follow?
1- Identifying the problem.
2- Researching the law relevant to the loss
3- Applying the law to the loss
Prompt- IRA
Discuss identifying the problem?
From a loss adjusting perspective, identifying the problem simply means recognising that laws may be relevant to the loss you are adjusting.
When researching the law, it does not always fit into easily identifiable categories, you should ask yourself a number of questions before starting your research-
1- DOL- In which division of law does this fall?
2- POL- What parts of the law are involved?
3- SOC- What statutes, ordinances or codes might apply?
4- ACT- Are there particular acts that might go to limiting or determining the quantity of damages?
5- RUL- Are there rules relating to the procedure of the lodgement of a claim?
Who classified the ‘sources of law’ and how many categories do they identify?
Singh, Delkin and Singh classified the ‘sources of law’ into 2x categories.
What are the categories identified as legal sources of law?
1- Authoritative sources.
2- Facilitative sources.
What are authoritative sources?
Authoritative sources of law (also called primary sources) contain the actual written rules of law is laid down by the courts and legislation. They are recognised by the courts as legal sources of law.
Name and discuss the various types of authoritative sources of law?
1- Judiciary precedence- These are legal decisions coming directly out of the court system in New Zealand. Not all cases heard by these courts are recorded in the New Zealand Law Reports. A court reporter will generally use 2x criteria when deciding to include a case or decision in the reports. The first is where the ratio dicidendi(reason for deciding) of the case establishes a new rule of law and the other is where the case extends, restricts or replaces the existing rule of law.
2- Legislation- Legislation comes directly from the legislature (parliament). The term legislation covers both acts of Parliament and subordinate or delegated legislation made under each act- i.e. regulations, rules or bylaws.
What are facilitative sources?
Facilitative sources (secondary sources) facilitate the finding of legal information such as legal principles, considerations or analysis or evaluation by lawyers, rather than stating the rules as authoritative sources do.
What are the main facilitative sources available to loss adjusters?
1- Legal encyclopaedias dictionaries
2- Articles published in legal journals or reviews
3- Text books
