Insurance Law

Module overview

Insurance is an essential condition to undertake commercial transactions or complex ventures, whatever their nature. As a foundation for commerce, insurance plays an important role in society, for commercial risk management as well as a safety net for undertakings. The commercial insurance industry in the UK, with its centre at Lloyd’s of London, is of global importance. In this module, we explore how insurance contracts are made and how to interpret commercial insurance policies against the background of insurance case law and statutes. UK law underwent significant statutory reform in 2016 and it is therefore a dynamic period and an exciting time to study insurance law. The module looks not only at what the law is, but also at what it ought to be, with inspiration from other jurisdictions.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

A1. The core principles, concepts and doctrines of insurance law and their application to commercial relationships or transactions or corporate parties.
A2 The economic or public policies or values underlying these insurance law principles and concepts and areas of current controversy.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

B2.Suggest possible legal developments to improve the efficiency and fairness of insurance law governing affected parties in the international commercial context.
B1.Identify, evaluate and apply key legal principles in solving complex practical problems in the commercial context, citing legal authorities.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

C1. Undertake independent research and access primary and secondary sources effectively.
C2. Construct arguments and solve problems based on premises drawn from various sources.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods:

One 2-hour seminar per week

Learning methods include:

Essential and additional directed reading, as per distributed reading lists reproduced on Blackboard;
Engagement with current legal or commercial developments to ensure that you can relate the material being discussed in class to contemporary controversies

Study time
Type	Hours
Teaching	20
Independent Study	130
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Merkin & Colinvaux. Law of Insurance.

Burling & Lazarus. Research Handbook in Insurance and Reinsurance Law and Regulation.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Coursework Essay

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External