In Terms of Utmost Good Faith, the Law of Insurance Imposes Strict Obligation on the Insured as Compared to the Insurer: A Literature Review

Abstract

Unlike other contracts in legal arena, the law of insurance in England emphatically revolves around the duty of utmost good faith imported from the continental legal systems as nucleus element in insurance contracts. Notwithstanding the fact that insurance law casts the duty upon both the parties - insured and insurer, to an insurance contract, the former finds himself in a more harsh and difficult condition when a dispute arises. The instant literature is directed to scan the relevant writings on the subject with a view to present a comparative study of the legal stand of the insured and the insurer so far as their duty of utmost good faith, in other words the duty of disclosure, is concerned under the contract of insurance. It also focuses on some non-UK jurisdictions regarding the topic and on some possible reforms offered by the Law Commission.