Insurance Contracts

Gbogbo ọrọ náà

Every policy you will ever study begins life as a contract, and a contract is nothing more than a promise the law is willing to enforce. Before an insurer pays a single naira, before indemnity or subrogation or any other principle can bite, there must first be a valid agreement between two parties. Get the foundation wrong and the whole policy can collapse as if it never existed.

In this lesson you will learn exactly what an insurance contract is and how it differs from buying bread or hiring a taxi, who the two parties are and what each must do, and the six essentials the law demands before it will call an agreement binding: offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, legality and consent. You will then meet the one feature that sets insurance apart from almost every other contract in commerce, the duty of the utmost good faith, and learn to test any arrangement and say whether it truly holds.

Ebumnobi

  1. Define an insurance contract and distinguish it from other commercial contracts
  2. Identify the parties to an insurance contract and state the role of each
  3. Explain the essential features of a valid contract: offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, legality and consent
  4. Apply the essential features to determine whether a given insurance arrangement is legally valid
  5. Explain why an insurance contract is described as a contract of the utmost good faith

Akọmọ Ojú-ẹkọ

A young driver in Ibadan fills in a form, hands over ₦35,000 and drives away believing he is insured. Three weeks later he dents another car and makes a claim, only to be told there is no contract at all. How can that be, when he paid his money and holds a receipt? The answer lies in the rules that turn a loose arrangement into a binding contract. Money changing hands is not enough. A valid insurance contract has parts that must all be present, and if even one is missing the agreement is empty. Master these rules and you can look at any insurance arrangement and say, with confidence, whether the law will stand behind it.

Ayẹwo Ẹkọ

Ekele diri gi maka imecha ihe karịrị na Insurance Contracts. Ugbu a na ị na-enyochakwa isi echiche na echiche ndị dị mkpa, ọ bụ oge iji nwalee ihe ị ma. Ngwa a na-enye ụdị ajụjụ ọmụmụ dị iche iche emebere iji kwado nghọta gị wee nyere gị aka ịmata otú ị ghọtara ihe ndị a kụziri.

Ị ga-ahụ ngwakọta nke ụdị ajụjụ dị iche iche, gụnyere ajụjụ chọrọ ịhọrọ otu n’ime ọtụtụ azịza, ajụjụ chọrọ mkpirisi azịza, na ajụjụ ede ede. A na-arụpụta ajụjụ ọ bụla nke ọma iji nwalee akụkụ dị iche iche nke ihe ọmụma gị na nkà nke ịtụgharị uche.

Jiri akụkụ a nke nyocha ka ohere iji kụziere ihe ị matara banyere isiokwu ahụ ma chọpụta ebe ọ bụla ị nwere ike ịchọ ọmụmụ ihe ọzọ. Ekwela ka nsogbu ọ bụla ị na-eche ihu mee ka ị daa mba; kama, lee ha anya dị ka ohere maka ịzụlite onwe gị na imeziwanye.

  1. The two parties to an insurance contract are the: A. Agent and the broker B. Insured and the insurer C. Proposer and the loss adjuster D. Underwriter and the reinsurer Answer: B
  2. In insurance, a completed and submitted proposal form is best regarded as: A. An invitation to treat B. An acceptance C. An offer D. A counter offer Answer: C
  3. Which of the following is NOT an essential feature of a valid insurance contract? A. Offer and acceptance B. Consideration C. Salvage D. Legality Answer: C
  4. The consideration provided by the insurer in an insurance contract is the: A. Premium B. Promise to pay a valid claim C. Proposal form D. Sum insured Answer: B
  5. An agreement to insure goods that are being smuggled into the country is: A. Valid and enforceable B. Voidable at the insurer's option C. Void for lack of legality D. Binding once the premium is paid Answer: C

Àwọn Ìbéèrè Tó Ti Kọjá

Nna, you dey wonder how past questions for this topic be? Here be some questions about Insurance Contracts from previous years.

Ajụjụ 1 Ripọtì

(a)(i) What is a proposal form?
(ii) List four general questions that are contained in a proposal form.

(b) List and explain three documents used in effecting insurance contracts.