Unit 1 of Law of Insurance (syllabus: Module I — the nature and function of insurance, risk and its classification, and the general principles: insurable interest, utmost good faith, indemnity, subrogation, contribution, causa proxima and mitigation). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What separates a contract of insurance from a wager?
- What makes a risk insurable, and what follows from the rule that the risk must run?
- Why is a contract of insurance one of utmost good faith, and what is the effect of breach?
- When must insurable interest exist, and why is the answer different for life and for property?
- Why do subrogation and contribution exist, and where do they not apply?
- How does a court identify the proximate cause of a loss?
- What is the difference between assignment and nomination of a life policy?
- How is an insurance policy construed, and why does a policyholder sue in a consumer forum?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Marine Insurance Act 1963, s. s. 6
- Insurance Act 1938, s. s. 64VB
- Marine Insurance Act 1963, s. ss. 19 and 20
- Marine Insurance Act 1963, s. ss. 7 and 8
- Marine Insurance Act 1963, s. ss. 34, 79 and 80
- Marine Insurance Act 1963, s. s. 55(1)
- Insurance Act 1938, s. ss. 38 and 39
- Consumer Protection Act 2019, s. ss. 2(42) and 2(11)
Leading cases
- Wilson v. Jones; Williams v. Baltic Insurance Association of London
- Carter v. Boehm; LIC v. Asha Goel; LIC v. Shakuntala Devi
- Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co; Dalby v. India and London Life Assurance Co
- Castellain v. Preston; Yorkshire Insurance Co v. Nisbet Shipping Co
- Pink v. Fleming; Montoya v. London Assurance Co
- Sarbati Devi v. Usha Devi; Bharat Insurance Co Ltd v. Lakshmi Devi
- Vikram Greentech (I) Ltd v. New India Assurance Co Ltd; LIC v. Asha Goel
Full case summaries
- Carter v. Boehm
- Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co
- Griffith v. Fleming
- Dalby v. India and London Life Assurance Co (1854)
- Castellain v. Preston
- Pink v. Fleming (1890) 25 QBD 396