Commonwealth Numbered Regulations

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INSURANCE CONTRACTS REGULATIONS 2017 (F2017L01658) - SCHEDULE 1

Writing to inform of duty of disclosure

Note:       See subsection 7(2).

Part 1 -- Contracts of general insurance, other than eligible contracts of insurance

   

Your duty of disclosure

Before you enter into an insurance contract, you have a duty to tell us anything that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, may affect our decision to insure you and on what terms.

You have this duty until we agree to insure you.

You have the same duty before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate an insurance contract.

You do not need to tell us anything that:

*                      reduces the risk we insure you for; or

*                      is common knowledge; or

*                      we know or should know as an insurer; or

*                      we waive your duty to tell us about.

If you do not tell us something

If you do not tell us anything you are required to, we may cancel your contract or reduce the amount we will pay you if you make a claim, or both.

If your failure to tell us is fraudulent, we may refuse to pay a claim and treat the contract as if it never existed.

Part 2 -- Contracts of life insurance

   

Your duty of disclosure

Before you enter into a life insurance contract, you have a duty to tell us anything that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, may affect our decision to insure you and on what terms.

You have this duty until we agree to insure you.

You have the same duty before you extend, vary or reinstate the contract.

You do not need to tell us anything that:

*                      reduces the risk we insure you for; or

*                      is common knowledge; or

*                      we know or should know as an insurer; or

*                      we waive your duty to tell us about.

If the insurance is for the life of another person and that person does not tell us everything he or she should have, this may be treated as a failure by you to tell us something that you must tell us.

If you do not tell us something

In exercising the following rights, we may consider whether different types of cover can constitute separate contracts of life insurance. If they do, we may apply the following rights separately to each type of cover.

If you do not tell us anything you are required to, and we would not have insured you if you had told us, we may avoid the contract within 3 years of entering into it.

If we choose not to avoid the contract, we may, at any time, reduce the amount you have been insured for. This would be worked out using a formula that takes into account the premium that would have been payable if you had told us everything you should have. However, if the contract has a surrender value, or provides cover on death, we may only exercise this right within 3 years of entering into the contract.

If we choose not to avoid the contract or reduce the amount you have been insured for, we may, at any time vary the contract in a way that places us in the same position we would have been in if you had told us everything you should have. However, this right does not apply if the contract has a surrender value or provides cover on death.

If your failure to tell us is fraudulent, we may refuse to pay a claim and treat the contract as if it never existed.

Part 3 -- Eligible contracts of insurance

   

Your duty of disclosure

Before you enter into an insurance contract, you have a duty of disclosure under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 .

If we ask you questions that are relevant to our decision to insure you and on what terms, you must tell us anything that you know and that a reasonable person in the circumstances would include in answering the questions.

You have this duty until we agree to insure you.

If you do not tell us something

If you do not tell us anything you are required to tell us, we may cancel your contract or reduce the amount we will pay you if you make a claim, or both.

If your failure to tell us is fraudulent, we may refuse to pay a claim and treat the contract as if it never existed.

Part 4 -- Renewal of eligible contracts of insurance

   

Your duty of disclosure

Before you renew this contract of insurance, you have a duty of disclosure under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 .

If we ask you questions that are relevant to our decision to insure you and on what terms, you must tell us anything that you know and that a reasonable person in the circumstances would include in answering the questions.

Also, we may give you a copy of anything you have previously told us and ask you to tell us if it has changed. If we do this, you must tell us about any change or tell us that there is no change.

If you do not tell us about a change to something you have previously told us, you will be taken to have told us that there is no change.

You have this duty until we agree to renew the contract.

If you do not tell us something

If you do not tell us anything you are required to tell us, we may cancel your contract or reduce the amount we will pay you if you make a claim, or both.

If your failure to tell us is fraudulent, we may refuse to pay a claim and treat the contract as if it never existed.



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