Mann's Annotated Insurance Contracts Act, 9th edition provides the full text of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) accompanied by clear, concise and wide-ranging annotations helpfully explaining the operation of the Act.
Given the numerous rounds of changes to the Insurance Contracts Act, this book includes historical forms of a number of key sections, including s 21 "The insured's duty of disclosure" and ss 28 and 29 which specify an insurer's remedies for failure to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, or non-disclosure or misrepresentation (as applicable).
This book also contains commentary on the obligation of an Australian financial services licensee to do all things necessary to ensure that the financial services covered by the licence are provided "efficiently, honestly and fairly", under s 912A(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), in so far as this obligation applies to, or is relevant to, insurance contracts. The obligation is relevant to Australian insurers, as they are generally required to hold an Australian financial services licence. Since 13 March 2019 a contravention has carried a maximum penalty, subject to turnover, of 2.5 million penalty units. There is a very large overlap between an insurer's duty of utmost good faith and its obligation to provide the financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly. Prima facie, a failure by an insurer to act with the utmost good faith is also a failure to provide the financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly, which may attract a substantial penalty.
For the first time, this edition also contains commentary on the unfair contact terms regime in Subdiv BA of Div 2 of Pt 2 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) in so far as it applies to, or is relevant to, insurance contracts. Since 9 November 2023 this regime has included civil penalty provisions. The Court also has power to vary the insurance contact.
