material circumtances Flashcards
What is a Material circumstance
Is any which would affect the judgement of a prudent insurer in considering
- whether to accept the risk or not
- if they are willing to accept the risk, then at what rate of premium and on what terms and conditions
What are the duties of the proposer
There duties are
- take reasonable care not to misrepresent if they are consumers
- to make fair presentation of information relating to the risk to be insured if non-consumer
What are other material information need to be disclosed by the insurer
- Details of previous losses(doesn’t matter whether insured or not)
- any special terms/conditions imposed by past insurers or of declination ought to be disclosed
What are the circumstances that don’t need to be disclosed
- circumstances that lessen the risk
- circumstances the insurer ought to know
- Circumstances where insured has waived its rights
- circumstances the insurer knows
- Circumstances the insurer is presumed to know
- circumstances that a survey would have revealed
- spent conviction
Which amendment included spent conviction as a fact that does not need to be disclosed
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO)
What does the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 state
It states that after varying period of time depending upon the severity of the original sentence imposed, conviction become spent. Thus treated as never having happened and this no need to disclose them
How are Conviction for those below 18 years old different from the rest
There sentences are halved except for custodial sentences of up to 6 months where the buffer period is 18 months
For Rehabilitation of offenders what is the buffer period
The period that runs beyond the length of the sentence
So according to the Rehabilitation of Offenders, how do we calculate the Rehabilitation period
This is the Length of the sentence plus the buffer period
Which Act deals with disclosure by private individuals/consumers
Consumer Insurance(Disclosure and Representation)Act 2012 (CIDRA), it requires consumers to take reasonable care not to make misrepresentation and emphasis on insurers to ask the right questions in a clear way
What are the different remedies provided by the CIDRA in the case where the insurer has been induced by misrepresentation to enter into an insurance contract
- i f its an honest and reasonable misrepresentation insurer must pay the claim
- if the misrepresentation was careless then insurer should act as it would have done if the question was answered correctly, either by applying exclusion or charging higher premium
- If the misrepresentation was deliberate or reckless- insurer is entitled to treat the policy as void and declaim all claims
What did the CIDRA Act abolish
It abolished the basis of contract clause. This clause enabled insurers to avoid a policy for any breach of warranty by the insured.This abolishment brings the law in line with the industry practice and the approach of the financial ombudsman
What did the Insurance Act 2015 state about non consumer /commercial consumers
They have a duty to make fair presentation ad a risk
What does making a fair presentation of the risk for non consumers involve
It involves disclosing every material circumstance which the insured knows/ought to know/providing sufficient information for a prudent insurer to recognize that it needs to make further enquirers
What is another meaning or way of making fair presentation
This means presenting the information in a way that is clear and accessible to the insurer. And the insurer need to take responsibility for asking questions and probing for information about a risk
What the insured is deemed to know/ought to know is described in the IA 2015 to include
- knowledge held by insured’s senior management and person’s responsible within the organisation for arranging the insurance
- what ought to be known in the ordinary course of the insured’s business
- information there was suspicion about
- information that should reasonably have been revealed by a reasonable search
- information held within the insured’s own organisation and by others
According to the IA 2015 what information ins the insurer required to know /find within its own organisation rather than expecting the insured to disclose
- Information that is held by the insurer and accessible to the underwriter
- Information that is common knowledge
- Information that an insurer writing this type of risk would reasonably be expected to know
According to the IA 2015, when can an insurer issue remedy against an insured for a breach of duty of fair presentation
Insurers can issue remedy against the insured if for the breach it would either
-Not entered the contract at all
-would have entered but on different terms
Such a breach is a qualifying breach
Before the insurer can consider applying any remedy it has to establish whether the breach is
1.deliberate/reckless
2.neither deliberate or reckless
The insurer has to prove if the breach was deliberate or reckless
If the insurer is able to prove that the breach was deliberate, what action can they take
- The insurer can avoid the contract and refuse to pay claims
- The insurer can choose not to return any premium paid
If the insurer prove that the breach was not deliberate or reckless, what remedies can they take
- If the insurer would not have taken the risk, if it had known the information which has come to light, then the insurer can avoid the contract but must return the premium
- If the insurer would have charged a higher premium, then it can reduce any claim payment proportionately
- If the insurer would have taken the risk but on new/different terms like exclusions/extensions/sub- limit, then contract would be treated as if it had entered those terms, but insurer can seek to avoid policy
In material circumstances what is a physical hazard
This is a physical characteristics of the risk that is measurable dimensions
What are the physical hazard of fire insurance
- Nature of construction of the building
- provision of fire fighting equipment
- trade processes
What are the physical hazard of theft insurance
- Nature of construction of the building
- security features
- nature of contents of building
What are the physical hazard of motor insurance
- Age of the driver
- make and model of the vehicles
- place where it is usually kept
- its use
What are the physical hazard of Employers liability insurance
- Industrial processes in a factory
- guarding of machinery
What are the physical hazard of Personal Accident and Sickness insurance
- Proposers’ Occupation
- dangerous pastimes