Fraudulent insurance claims: legal definition and judicial consequences

Abstract

While much of the narrative of this thesis chips away at imperceptible changes in case law, this is ultimately a text as much about legal policy as about law. The author will assert that it is time for a tectonic shift in the manner in which insurance is considered under the law of England and Wales, and sets out the basis for this view. Chapter 1 is a brief general introduction. Chapter 2 sets out the background of the reform project against which this work has been undertaken and its ongoing reform of insurance contract law, underlining how the research has been undertaken in a context of moving goalposts. It further provides some stipulative definitions and initial consideration of the concepts of good faith and moral hazard. Chapter 3 sets out the law on fraudulent claims – a fairly basic endeavour it might be thought, but as will be seen the law has been far from clear to the point of requiring clarification by the legislator. Chapter 4 explores how the burden and in particular the standard of proof operate in cases of insurance fraud, and explores how the courts address these, and how they ought to address them. Chapter 5 breaks new ground in exploring and setting out the strategies employed by insurers in achieving punitive results against insurance fraudsters, in the face of the difficult legal position created by the law as outlined in the previous chapters. A final chapter teases out the consequences of the preceding chapters and offers conclusions. It will be concluded that the law is in need of recalibration not just along contractual lines and with greater principle in mind, but also along procedural lines with close consideration of the remedies available to the parties.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Johanna Hjalmarsson: orcid.org/0000-0002-7362-811X

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