Materiality, non-disclosure and unproven allegations: following the North Star?

Abstract

The Court of Appeal decision in The North Star shows continuing judicial dissatisfaction with the doctrine of utmost good faith in insurance contract law. As a vehicle designed in the 18th century to counteract inequalities of access to information, it has failed to keep pace with modern circumstances. However, the most recent “hard” case represents an age-old problem: whether to require disclosure of information known by the insured to be untrue, but not yet disproven. This article considers three potential mechanisms for reform: the concept of materiality; the doctrine of inducement and ex post controls on the remedy of avoidance.

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ORCID for James Davey: orcid.org/0000-0002-0748-1404

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