Before you enter into a contract of general insurance with an Insurer, you have a duty under the
Insurance Contracts Act 1984 to disclose to the Insurer every matter that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, relevant to the Insurer's decision whether to accept the risk of insurance and, if so, on what terms.
You have the same duty to disclose matters to the Insurer before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate a contract of general insurance.
Your duty however does not require disclosure of a matter:
that diminishes the risk to be undertaken by the Insurer;
that is of common knowledge;
that you Insurer knows or, in the ordinary course of its business, ought to know;
as to which compliance with your duty is waived by the Insurer.
Non-Disclosure
If you fail to comply with your duty of disclosure, the Insurer may be entitled to reduce its liability under the contract in respect of a claim or may cancel the contract. If your non-disclosure is fraudulent, the Insurer may also have the option of avoiding the contract from its beginning.
Claim Made Policy
This declaration is for a 'claims made and notified' policy of insurance. This means that the insuring clause responds to:
claims first made against you during the policy period and notified to the Insurer during the policy period, provided that you were not aware at any time prior to the policy inception of circumstances which would have put a reasonable person in your position on notice that a claim may be made against him/her; and
written notification of facts pursuant to Section 40(3) of the
Insurance Contracts Act 1984. The facts that you may decide to notify are those which might give rise to a claim against you. Such notifications must be given as soon as reasonably practicable after you become aware of the facts and prior to the policy's period of cover has expired. If you give written notification of such facts the policy will respond even though a claim arising from those facts is made against you after the policy has expired. For your information, Section 40(3) of the
Insurance Contracts Aact 1984 is set out in the following: "S40(3) Where the Insured gave notice in writing to the Insurer of facts that might give rise to a claim against the Insured as soon as was reasonably practicable after the Insured became aware of those facts but before the insurance covered provided by the contract expired, the Insurer is not relieved of liability under the contract in respect of the claim when made by reason only that it was made after the expiration of the period of insurance cover provided by the contract."
When the policy period expires, no new notification of facts can be made on the expired policy even though the event giving rise to the claim against you may have occured during the policy period.
You will not be entitled to indemnity under your new policy in respect of any claim resulting from an act, error or omission occurring or committed by you prior to the retroactive date, where one is specified in the policy terms offered to you.
Subrogration
The policy contains a provision that has the effect of excluding or limiting the Insurer's liability in respect of a claim where the Insured had forgone, excluded or limited a right of recovery or contribution.
Non-Renewable Policy
For the purposes of Section 58 of the
Insurance Contracts Act 1984, if a policy is issued, this policy is non-renewable and will expire and the conclusion of the policy period. Should the Insured require coverage beyond the expiry of the policy period, the Insured must complete a new proposal form and the Insurer may provide a new contract, the terms and conditions of which will be negotiated at the time.