Insurable interest, indemnity and third party rights under general contracts of insurance and the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 : a comparative study

On 1 January 1986 a new era dawned for the development of insurance law in Australia, for on that day the provisions of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (hereafter referred to as 'the Act') came into operation. Section 3 of the Act repeals for Australia certain Imperial Acts including the Life Assurance Act 1774, the Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774 and the Marine Insurance Act 1788. In so far as contracts of general insurance) can be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia, this repeal brought to an end a period of development of insurance law relating to:- a.. the concept of insurable interest; b. the principle of indemnity; and c. the rights of, and the classes of, persons entitled to make claims under contracts of general insurance. That development had commenced prior to the passage of the repealed Imperial Acts, but had been accelerated by, and as a result of, their passage. In Part III the Act lays down new rules with respect to the concept of insurable interest. Moreover, by sections 44, 45, 48, 49 and 76 certain material alterations are made to the law relating to: - a. the principle of indemnity; and b. the rights of, and the classes of, persons entitled to make claims under contracts of general insurance. In this thesis I propose to investigate and describe the law relating to:- a. insurable interest; b. the principle of indemnity; and c. the right of, and the classes of, persons entitled to make claims under contracts of general insurance, 1. as it had developed prior to the passage of the now repealed Imperial Acts, and their precursors; 2. as it developed after the passage of the now repealed Imperial Acts until the date of their repeal; 3. as it has been affected by the repeal and the new regime provided by the Act; and 4. as it is likely to develop in the future. Furthermore I propose to draw a comparison with the laws operating in the Netherlands, France and Germany at the relevant times to ascertain whether, and to what extent, such laws influenced the English law or were influenced by it. Finally the laws presently operating in those countries will also be examined by me to consider whether any, and if so which, recent continental developments might be useful, as indicating a solution to problems likely to face Australian Courts in the immediate future