On 28 November 2012, the government released a further exposure draft of theInsurance Contracts Amendment Bill 2012 (Cth) (the Bill). Aside from four proposed refinements, the proposed legislation remains unchanged from theInsurance Contracts Amendment Bill 2010 (the 2010 Bill) (previously discussedhere). Consequently, in this update we only address the four changes to the 2010 Bill.
Insured’s duty of disclosure
The 2010 Bill included only one factor (as opposed to the three factors appearing in the 2007 exposure draft) that a court should give consideration to when assessing an insured’s duty of disclosure (pursuant to the mixed subjective/objective test in section 21). This was the nature and extent of cover provided by the contract of insurance. The Bill has reinstated another consideration, namely the class of persons who would ordinarily be expected to apply for cover of that type. More…