Insurable interest: insurable interest in property

The Law Commission's draft Insurable Interest Bill, published in April 2016, proposes to retain much of the existing legal structure. The proposals would seemingly extend the definition of insurable interest to catch some cases where there are legitimate rights capable of protection by insurance but as yet not recognised by the law. The decision of the Outer House of the Court of Session in Comlex Ltd v Allianz Insurance plc [2016] CSOH 87 is a relatively straightforward case where there was clearly insurable interest, but the judgment is nevertheless a useful illustration of the point that legal or equitable ownership are not the exclusive touchstones of insurable interest.

Comlex : the facts