Consumer insurance: avoidance for misrepresentation

The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 removes the right of an insurer to avoid a consumer insurance policy for misrepresentation unless there has been a deliberate or reckless misstatement by the assured.

The first case on the operation of the 2012 Act, the decision of Lady Paton in the Scottish Court of Session in Southern Rock Insurance Co Ltd v Hafeez [2017] CSOH 127, shows that an online placement – where the assured first visits an aggregator site, answers questions and is then diverted to an insurance company site for the completion of the application – gives rise to serious problems of proof for the insurer.