QCR Spring 2017: Gilding the lily: will a collateral lie invalidate an insurance claim?
Versloot Dredging BV v HDI Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG [2016] UKSC 45.
For over 150 years, the common law has protected insurers against paying fraudulent claims. This position is founded on a clear public policy decision to deter fraud. Should the law take the same view, however, where the insured tells a lie to his insurer which bears no relevance to the underlying validity of the claim? This is the issue which came before the Supreme Court.
