insurance law Essay -- essays research papers

The Nature of Insurance came about to offset any loss that an individual or those engaged in business may suffer through the occurrence of some unforeseen event. To offset this loss the commercial world developed the contract of insurance. In return for a fee the individual, or the business enterprise, would be indemnified for the loss suffered on the occurrence of the event insured against. Contracts of insurance cover a wide field such as life assurance, personal accident public liability, damage to property and general liability insurance. A contract of insurance is a contract whereby one party, called the insurer, agrees in return for a payment called the premium to pay a sum of money to another, called the insured, on the occurrence of a certain event, or to indemnify the insured against the loss caused by the risk which is insured against. Policies of insurance are of two broad types: life assurance, which insures against an event that must happen, namely, death; and liability insurance, which insures against events that may happen. A contract of insurance may be in any form, such as by deed, in writing, or verbal. In practice such a contract is embodied in a written document called a policy, which expressly states all the terms of the contract. Three elements are essential to an insurance contract: (a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  consideration must pass to the Insurer. This usually takes the form of periodic payments, called premiums; (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  there must be some degree of uncertainty as to whether the event insured against will happen, or if it is bound to happen, as to when it will happen (c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the event, if or when it happens, must be adverse to the interest of the insured. Insurance business in Ireland is carried on principally by registered friendly societies, which deal in life assurance and are governed by the Friendly Societies Acts 1909-1989. Both statutes attempt to provide some supervision by the state so as to safeguard the interest of policy holders. Insurance companies must hold a licence, maintain a bond with the High court and make annual returns. The usual procedure for a party seeking insurance is to first complete a proposal form and submit it to the insurers. Where the proposal form is rejected that is the end of the matter and there is no contract. The insurer is not ... ...Dodgem Insurance are therefore only required to pay Chandler at most  £150,000 even though the cost might be more. The policy taken out by Joey will in no way effect the policy Chandler has taking out with Dodgem Insurance Ltd. The two Insurance companies will be required to each pay an appropriate percentage of the claim. Chandler is not entitled to any contribution from Central Perk Insurance as this policy was taking out by Dodgem Ltd and is a general contents policy. Dodgem Insurance will receive a relevant payout for any damage done to the general contents on their section of Castle View i.e. the ground floor. Even though Chandler neglected to mention that Castle View has a thatched roof, he is covered by Section 18 (3) of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 (b) i.e. Any circumstance that is known or presumed known to the insurer. The insurer is presumed to know matters or common notoriety or knowledge, and matters, which an insurer in the ordinary course of his business as such ought to know. Chandler may have presumed that because Dodgem Insurance Ltd are located in the same building that he is insuring that they will have taking the fact that it has a thatched roof into account.