Consumer insurance and the duty of disclosure

The landmark report by the British Insurance Law Association (“BILA”), Insurance Contract Law Reform, published in September 2002, was a significant influence in persuading the Law Commissions to start their current review of insurance law.2 On 15 June 2011 the first measure resulting from that review—the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Bill—received its second reading in the House of Lords. The Bill is currently being scrutinised by a Special Public Bill Committee. If enacted, it will abolish the duty of disclosure in consumer insurances. This article looks at the history of the duty of disclosure and questions whether such a duty should ever have been imposed on consumers.