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About the project
The Singapore Academy of Law’s Law Reform Committee (‘LRC’) studied current deficiencies in the state of insurance law in Singapore, and considered whether reforms were necessary in relation to:
- The duty of utmost good faith (and related issues such as the duty of disclosure and misrepresentation, warranties and remedies for fraudulent claims);
- insurable interest;
- brokers’ responsibility for unpaid premiums; and
- late payment of claims.
This study was informed both by an analysis of best practices in leading foreign insurance jurisdictions, and the results of a public consultation carried out by the LRC in July 2019.
Report Recommendations
In summary, the report recommends:
- For the duty of utmost good faith (and related areas), adopting the framework and provisions of the UK’s insurance contract law regime, along with certain desirable features that exist in Australian insurance law;
- repealing section 62 of Singapore’s Insurance Act (IA) (which requires insurable interest in life-related polices), and amending section 57 of the IA to provide that an insured has an insurable interest in the life of another person if there is a reasonable prospect he or she will suffer economic loss if the insured event occurs;
- effectively removing the requirement for insurable interest in non-life-related or indemnity policies;
- replacing section 53(1) of the Marine Insurance Act with a provision that, unless otherwise agreed, a broker is not personally liable to pay the premium to the insurer, and amending section 53(2) to make clear that the lien provided therein should also be extended to nonmarine insurance; and
- enacting a specific provision to require insurers to make payment within a “reasonable time.”
Project status: Completed
- The report was published in February 2020.
- Click here to read the full report.
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Areas of law
◾ Insurance Law
Click on the image above to view the paper
Last updated 28 February 2020
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