UK Insurance Act 2015: Lack of knowledge concerning changes endangers insurance cover

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Pressemitteilungen

The recent reform of the English insurance law may have consequences for the insurance cover of German companies.

This is pointed out by the authors of a multilingual update on the UK Insurance Act 2015. The guidance was jointly published by the insurance law firms Wilhelm Rechtsanwälte (Düsseldorf), Covington & Burling (London) and Grenier Avocats (Paris).

The UK Insurance Act 2015 will become effective on 12 August 2016 and constitutes the first essential reform of the English insurance law for more than 100 years. It brings changes i.a. for the policy holder’s pre-contractual disclosure duties, the consequences of breaches of warranties and the insurer’s remedies. Commercial policy holders outside the United Kingdom may be affected by the reform, for example when they purchase insurance cover via the London market – as done more frequently by German companies nowadays.

“From a policy holder’s perspective, the advantages of the reform of the English insurance law outweigh the disadvantages. Nevertheless, risk managers and inhouse broker should have knowledge of and comply with the new provisions - particularly when it comes to disclosure duties. Otherwise, they might endanger their insurance cover”, says Dr. Mark Wilhelm, managing partner at Wilhelm Rechtsanwälte in Düsseldorf.

Policy holders should also be aware that insurers may contract-out of many new provisions that protect policy holders. “It is thus crucial to know your rights and to look out for attempts of your insurer to contract-out”, says Wilhelm.

For a better understanding, the authors of the guide make comparisons of the revised English provisions with German and French insurance law. The publication is available upon request in German, English and French.

 

PDF icon Download full report "UK Insurance Act 2015 - Update and comparison" Covington & Burling LLP Grenier Avocats