Misrepresentation

In Zeller v British Caymanian Insurance Co Ltd [2008] UKPC 4 the Privy Council, in dealing with what was more or less a factual dispute, confirmed that if the assured is required to answer questions to the best of his knowledge and belief, he cannot be guilty of misrepresentation if his answers are, unknown to him, untrue.

Zeller: the facts

The claimant, a US national, moved to Grand Cayman in November 2001 and began to work for a company, Pool Patrol. Under local law, Pool Patrol was under a duty to effect and maintain health insurance for its employees, and accordingly the claimant was asked to complete the insurers’‘Group Enrollment Information Form with a Health Questionnaire’. This was in three parts. Section A asked a series of yes/no questions which had to be answered to the best of the claimant’s knowledge and belief and which related to specific medical conditions. Against question (d), ‘Goiter, thyroid trouble, diabetes’, the claimant signified ‘yes ‘and wrote ‘Thyroid’. The claimant gave a negative answer to question (k):‘heart trouble, abnormal blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension), anaemia, rheumatic fever’.