8.1 Introduction

It is well known that an insurance contract is a contract uberrimae fidei – of utmost good faith, i.e. each party is under a duty to exercise the utmost good faith towards the other in respect of any matter arising under or in relation to the contract.1 Perhaps the most important consequence of the uberrimae fidei principle is the doctrine of disclosure. During the negotiations for a contract of insurance, both parties are under a duty to disclose to each other information which is material to the risk and which is not known by the other party. This chapter is concerned with the insured's duty of disclosure and misrepresentation, while the insurer's duty of good faith and the duty to explain the content of the contract will be discussed in Chapter 9, “The insurer's pre-contractual duty of good faith,” of this book.