Definition & Principles of Insurance

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    Insurance - Definition

    The contract of Insurance is a promise of compensation for certain potential future losses in

    exchange for a periodic payment [known as premium]. Insurance is intended to protect the

    financial well-being of an individual or a company or any other entity in case of unexpected

    loss. An agreement to the terms of an insurance policy creates a contract between the insuredand the insurer. In exchange for the premiums paid by the insured, the insurer agrees to pay

    the policy holder a certain sum of money upon the occurrence of a specific event or on

    maturity. In most cases, the policy holder pays part of the loss (called the deductible), while

    the insurer pays the rest. Examples include health insurance, car insurance, life insurance,

    disability insurance, and business insurance.

    Main principles of Insurance:

    Utmost good faith

    Indemnity

    Subrogation

    ContributionInsurable Interest

    Proximate Cause

    Utmost Good Faith (Uberrimae Fides)

    It is the duty of the client to disclose all material facts relating to the risk being covered. A

    material fact is a fact that would influence the mind of a prudent underwriter while deciding

    whether or not to accept a risk for insurance and on what terms. This duty to disclose operates

    at the time of inception, at renewal as well as at any point mid term.

    Indemnity

    When the event that is insured against occurs, the Insured will be placed in the same

    monetary position that he/she occupied immediately before the happening of the event.

    In the event of a claim the insured must:

    Prove that the event occurred

    Prove that a monetary loss has also occurred

    Transfer any rights that he/she may be having for the recovery from another source to the

    Insurer, if he/she is fully indemnified.

    Subrogation

    With regards to insurance, subrogation is a feature of principle of indemnity and therefore

    only applies to contracts of indemnity and hence does not apply to life assurance or personal

    accident policies. It aims to prevent an insured to recover more than the indemnity that he

    receives under his insurance (where that represents the full amount of his loss) and enables

    the insurer to recover or reduce the loss.

    Contribution

    The right of an insurer to call on other insurers similarly, but not necessarily equally, liable tothe same insured to share the loss of an indemnity payment i.e. a travel policy might have an

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    overlapping cover with the contents section of a household policy. The principle of

    contribution permits the insured to make a claim against one insurer. The insurer then has the

    right to call on any other insurers liable for the loss in order to share the claim settlement

    Insurable Interest

    If an insured wants to enforce an insurance contract before the Courts he must have an

    insurable interest in the subject matter of the insurance, which means that he benefits from its

    preservation and suffers from its loss. In case of non-marine insurances, it is necessary for the

    insured to have insurable interest when the policy is taken out and also at the date of loss

    giving rise to a claim under the policy.

    Proximate Cause

    An insurer is liable to pay a claim under an insurance contract only if the loss that gave rise to

    the claim was proximately caused by an insured peril. This means that the loss should be

    directly credited to an insured peril without any break in the chain of causation.