Insurance Law

• • This branch of law provides a legal framework for the regulation and supervision of insurance business in the Republic of South
    Africa that promotes the maintenance of a fair, safe and stable insurance market.
    
    What does the law require a prospective insured to disclose when taking out insurance cover?
    
    When negotiating an insurance contract the parties are considered to be doing so in good faith. This requires that the parties be open
    and honest with each other and to make open and truthful representations about their circumstances. Any misrepresentation
    of facts is a breach of the duty of good faith.
    
    South African law recognises two types of misrepresentation: a positive misrepresentation and a negative misrepresentation.
    
    A positive misrepresentation occurs when the insured represents a fact as being other than it is. This could either be a lie or a mistake.
    A negative misrepresentation occurs when an insured fails, without being specifically asked, to disclose information which is material
    to the calculation of risk An insurance contract is reciprocal in nature, in exchange for premiums paid by an insured, the insurer undertakes to pay the insured a benefit or
    indemnity on the occurrence of a specified event.
    
    A non-life insurance policy is any arrangement under which a person, in exchange for payment of a premium, undertakes to provide an indemnity
    benefit on the happening of an unplanned or uncertain event (excluding life events, and death or disability events not arising from an accident).
    
    A life insurance policy is any arrangement under which a person, in exchange for payment of a premium, undertakes to provide a benefit on
    the happening of a life, health, disability or death event on a fixed determinable date or at the request of the policy holder.
    
    All contracts of insurance are regulated by the Insurance Act 18 of 2017, The Short-term Insurance Act 53 of 1998 and the Long-term Insurance
    Act 52 of 1998.
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    Hi, I’m Kailash Pillay, an attorney from the city of Johannesburg. My passion for the law
    stems from a desire to improve upon the lives of the vulnerable who fall prey to a
    corrupt system.
    I studied at the University of Johannesburg where I obtained my Bachelor of Laws
    degree, the starting point to the long journey of becoming a legal practitioner.
    This profession has taught me to persevere through the complexities of the law and to
    continually develop my skills as a legal professional.