What makes marine insurance different in law from other classes of insurance?
The distinction between marine and non-marine insurance is significant for two general reasons. Firstly separate authorisation is required under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Secondly there are a number of distinctions between marine and non-marine insurance law including the following. Marine law has its own statute, the Marine Insurance Act 1906 whereas non-marine law has no such equivalent. Generally speaking the ‘rules’ laid by the 1906 Act are facultative only in the sense that they apply in the absence of any contrary provision of the Policy. Furthermore the Act is not exhaustive in that some aspects are still left to the common law. In determining the assured’s loss, marine policies value the assured’s interest at the date of the policy rather than at the date of the loss. A marine contract is enforceable only if embodied in a policy. Marine insurance warranties may be express or implied by operation of law whereas non-marine warranties must be expressly created.
