In the first of two articles reviewing proposals to reform insurance law, Peter Tyldesley is optimistic about the momentum for change
The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Bill was introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Sassoon and received its first reading on 16 May 2011. Based on a report jointly published by the English and Scottish Law Commissions on 15 December 2009, the Bill amends three areas of consumer insurance law which have been subject to particular criticism: non-disclosure, misrepresentation and basis of the contract clauses. If passed, the new law can be brought into force not less than a year and a day later. It is therefore possible that the commencement date could be as early as 2013.
The introduction of the Bill is a significant achievement for the Law Commissions. Insurance law has long been recognised as archaic, unclear and unfair (159 NLJ 7376, p 961-962 & 159 NLJ 7387, p 1358-1360) but earlier proposals for reform from the Law Reform Committee in 1957 and from the English Law Commission in 1980 were never implemented.
Basis of the contract clauses
The
