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 claim had also been found to be dishonest, and had been convicted of an offence for that.
Held: That fraudulent part contaminated the whole claim. The contract of insurance being one of utmost good faith, the assured could not first make a fraudulent claim , then seek to leave that part and pursue the rest. He will forfeit all benefit under the policy whether there is a condition to that effect or not.’ The appeal failed.
Judges:
Millett LJ
Citations:
[1999] Lloyd’s Rep IR 209, [1997] EWCA Civ 2487, [1999] LRIR 209
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Britton v Royal Insurance Company 1865
The insured made a claim under his insurance policy for twice the amount he had actually lost. It was an express condition of the insurance policy that a fraudulent part of a claim would avoid the balance of the claim.
Held: The duty of good . .
Cited – Orakpo v Barclays Insurance Services and Another CA 1995
The insured sought to claim under his policy. The insurance company declined any payment, saying that part of the claim was fraudulent.
Hoffmann LJ said: ‘In my view, the claim also fails on the ground that it was substantially fraudulent. The . .
Cited – Lek v Mathews 1927
Mr Lek was alleged to have dishonestly exaggerated a claim on the insurers of his stock. The policy required that if one part fell, all the claim fell: ‘As to the construction of the false claim clause, I think that it refers to anything falsely . .
Cited by:
Cited – AXA General Insurance Limited v Gottlieb CA 11-Feb-2005
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 . .
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: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.142885
