The defendant made a claim under an insurance policy. The insurer made an interim payment, but then asserted that the claim was fraudulent, and sought recovery of the interim payment.
Held: At common law, fraud in an insurance claim, once established, affected the entire claim. The whole claim was forfeit, and the interim payment was repayable. However, there is no basis or reason for giving the common law rule relating to fraudulent claims a retrospective effect on prior, separate claims which have already been settled under the same policy before any fraud occurs: ‘the proper scope of the common law rule relating to fraudulent insurance claims is to forfeit the whole of the claim to which the fraud relates, with the effect that the consideration for any interim payments made on that claim fails and they are recoverable.’
Lord Justice Pill Lord Justice Keene Lord Justice Mance
[2005] EWCA Civ 112, Times 03-Mar-2005, [2005] 1 All ER (Comm) 445)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Sayers v Clarke Walker (A firm) CA 14-May-2002
In a case of any complexity, when an appeal court considered an application for leave to appeal which was filed out of time, it should have in mind the matters listed in the rules. It was not appropriate to use judge made checklists where one was . .
Cited – Insurance Corporation of the Channel Islands Ltd and Another v Charles Joseph McHugh and Another ComC 1-Jul-1996
ComC Insurance – Marine Insurance Act 1906 – common law – duty not to make fraudulent claims – contractual provision – Conspiracy – injury by unlawful means – intention – combination – breach of duty – right to . .
Cited – Bank of Nova Scotia v Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association (Bermuda) Ltd (The Good Luck) HL 1992
The effect of breach of an insurance warranty is automatic, rather than dependant on any acceptance or election.
Lord Goff of Chieveley said: ‘So it is laid down in section 33(3) that, subject to any express provision in the policy, the insurer . .
Cited – Galloway v Guardian Royal Exchange (UK) Limited CA 15-Oct-1997
The claimant’s policy had been declared void ab initio by the court. On the application form he had falsely stated that he had no convictions, but had only shortly before been convicted of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception. Part of the . .
Cited – Agapitos and Another v Agnew and others ComC 24-Jul-2002
The common law principle governing fraudulent claims has a separate origin and existence to any principle that exists under or by analogy with s.17 of the Act. . .
Cited – Strive Shipping Corporation and Another v Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association (Bermuda) Ltd ComC 25-Mar-2002
Grecia Express
. .
Cited – Direct Line Insurance Plc v Khan and Another CA 11-Oct-2001
If part of an insurance claim is shown to be fraudulent, the entire claim is avoided. . .
Cited – Manifest Shipping Co Ltd v Uni-Polaris Shipping Co Ltd and Others HL 23-Jan-2001
The claimant took out insurance on its fleet of ships (the Star Sea). It had been laid up in its off season. The ship’s safety certificates were renewed before it sailed. It was damaged by fire. The insurers asserted that the ship had been . .
Cited – Beresford v Royal Insurance Co Ltd CA 1937
Major Beresford had shot himself. The court considered the applicability of the forfeiture rule in a case involving a suicide: ‘suicide when sane is by English law a felony. This has been so from very early times. The law is thus succinctly stated . .
Cited – Direct Line Insurance Plc v Khan and Another CA 11-Oct-2001
If part of an insurance claim is shown to be fraudulent, the entire claim is avoided. . .
Cited – Coral Leisure Group Ltd v Barnett EAT 1981
The court was asked whether any taint of illegality affecting part of a contract necessarily rendered the whole contract unenforceable by a party who knew of the illegality. In the case of a contract not for an illegal purpose or prohibited by . .
Cited by:
Cited – Shah v Ul-Haq and Others CA 9-Jun-2009
The defendant appealed against a refusal to strike out the claimant’s action saying that the claimant had been involved in a fraud upon the court in an earlier associated claim.
Held: The Rule gave no power to strike out a claim on such a . .
Cited – Fairclough Homes Ltd v Summers SC 27-Jun-2012
The respondent had made a personal injury claim, but had then been discovered to have wildly and dishonestly exaggerated the damages claim. The defendant argued that the court should hand down some condign form of punishment, and appealed against . .
Cited – Versloot Dredging Bv and Another v Hdi Gerling Industrie Versicherung Ag and Others SC 20-Jul-2016
The ‘DC MERWESTONE’ suffered a water ingress of water flooding the engine room. This resulted from (i) the negligence of the crew in failing to close the sea inlet valve of the emergency fire pump and drain down the system, after they had used the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insurance
Updated: 04 January 2022; Ref: scu.222783