Changes To UK Insurance Law

Major changes to insurance law came into force on 12 August 2016 by virtue of the Insurance Act 2015.

Some of the changes will be of benefit to those who have to insure UK real estate and this could provide comfort to mortgagees. The headlines are –

• New concept of 'fair disclosure' by policy holders which replaces the more onerous 'full disclosure'. Under the old law, failure to disclose fully meant that the policy was avoided even if the breach was minor. This was always an issue in looking at defective title policies taken out by a previous owner when the disclosure materials from the time the policy was taken out are not available. Now there is a proportionate remedy for a failure to disclose;