03 Jan

INSURANCE LAW 1.2 UTMOST GOOD FAITH

THE DOCTRINE OF UTMOST GOOD FAITH Uberrimae Fidei. Requires that parties to the contract must disclose all material facts within their knowledge. Non-disclosure or misrepresentation amounts to a breach of this duty and the innocent party would be entitled to avoid the contract especially where such induced him to enter the contract-University of Nigeria Nsukka […]

03 Jan

INSURANCE LAW 1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

Please consult Professor C.K Agomo’s, Modern Nigerian Law of Insurance wherein the principles and facts of cases are well explained. HISTORY. A walk through the sands of time would reveal the -practices of early 12th century Italian merchants, -the 14th century marine insurance business in Genoa Italy, -the informal insurance at Lloyd’s coffee house in […]

03 Jan

INSURANCE LAW 1.3 INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES

INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES. Made up largely of agents and brokers. An agent has been defined as a person who acts on behalf of another. An agent can bind his principal by issuing cover notes, collecting premium and so on. Since agents stand in fiduciary relationship, they owe their principal a duty of utmost good faith and […]

03 Jan

INSURANCE LAW 1.4 WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS

WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS. Under the general law of contract, conditions are the fundamental terms which go to the root of the contract while warranties are collateral promises. Under insurance law, the reverse is the case. Warranty: Attesting to the veracity of statements/answers made or where the proposer undertakes/promises to perform an obligation specified in the […]

03 Jan

INSURANCE LAW 1.5A CONSTRUCTION OF INSURANCE POLICIES

CONSTRUCTION OF INSURANCE POLICIES. Is done to ascertain the intention of the parties from the wording of the policy and other incorporated documents. PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. Rule applicable to the policy: Construction is a question of law. Therefore, the doctrine of precedence would apply. The whole of the policy rather than a part of it […]

03 Jan

INSURANCE 1.5B RISK AND CAUSATION

RISK AND CAUSATION. Risk is ordinarily defined as the chance of something going wrong. Here, risk means the hazard of loss to the insured. It is important to ascertain risk and causation so as to determine the liability of the insurer and the extent of the insured’s cover. The insured risk must have occurred- Syminton […]

31 Dec

INSURANCE 1.6 CLAIM PROCEDURE

CLAIM PROCEDURE: Utmost Good Faith: requires that the insured must abstain from making false claims. He should not tender false evidence or exaggerate claim. In Galloway V Guardian Royal Exchange ltd, the court held that the exaggeration vitiated the insured’s claim. In Another case, backdating cover amounted to fraud. Preliminary stage. :: Notice: where the […]

31 Dec

INSURANCE 1.7 ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT Connotes the transfer of rights and obligation to a third party. :: Where there is an assignment of the subject matter of insurance (I.e. the property insured), the insurance policy lapses/terminates because the insured no longer has insurable interest in it. For the policy to remain valid, the Subject matter of the contract of […]

31 Dec

INSURANCE 1.8 CONTRIBUTION, SUBROGATION AND INDEMNITY

SUBROGATION. According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, subrogation is the substitution of one person in the place of another with reference to a lawful claim, demand or right, so that he who is substituted succeeds to the rights of the other in relation to the debt or claim, and its rights, remedies or securities. Where […]

31 Dec

INSURANCE 1.9 LIFE AND MOTOR INSURANCE OVERVIEW

LIFE ASSURANCE In addition to all that has been discussed, the following are features peculiar to life insurance. Section 2 Insurance Act classifies insurance into life and general insurance business. Life insurance is futher classified into individual, group andpension and health insurance. Section 97 defines a life policy as any instrument by which repayment of […]