List and explain five principles of insurance.

Answer Details

Five principles of insurance

1. Utmost good faith (uberrimae fidei): Both parties to the contract, and especially the proposer, must disclose all material facts truthfully and completely. Concealment or misrepresentation of a material fact makes the contract voidable at the option of the insurer.
2. Insurable interest: The insured must have a legal or financial relationship with the subject matter such that he benefits from its safety and suffers loss from its damage or destruction. Without insurable interest the contract is void because it would amount to gambling.
3. Indemnity: The insurer undertakes to restore the insured, so far as money can, to the exact financial position he occupied immediately before the loss, no better and no worse. This prevents the insured from making a profit out of a loss. (It does not apply to life and personal accident.)
4. Subrogation: After indemnifying the insured, the insurer takes over the insured's legal rights and remedies against any third party responsible for the loss, so that the insurer can recover its outlay. This supports the principle of indemnity.
5. Contribution: Where the same risk is insured with more than one insurer, each insurer shares the loss rateably in proportion to the sum it insured, so that the insured recovers only the actual loss once and not more.

A further principle is proximate cause, under which the insurer is liable only where the nearest, most effective cause of the loss is a peril insured against.