The 4th edition of this leading introductory text - now under the sole authorship of Rob Merkin QC - provides a detailed examination of the developing law of insurance, combining exposition of the law with critical analysis. The book is designed primarily for undergraduate and postgraduate students, but is also a useful resource for those in the insurance industry studying for professional examinations and legal practitioners who need a concise guide to the legal principles. The text is enhanced by extensive citations to case law and academic commentaries; and a new companion website delivers annual case law updates. This new edition has been substantially rewritten in light of the transformation of insurance law in recent years. The text has been revised to include new legislation and coverage of the effects of Brexit. However, the approach and - where possible - the analysis of John Lowry and Philip Rawlings have been retained. The first part of the book considers the regulation of insurance business and the general principles underlying the law of insurance contracts. The second part examines the way those principles are shaped by the context in which they operate. A new chapter with case studies on COVID-19, earthquakes, and mesothelioma applies the principles to the problems and uncertainties for insurance law revealed by catastrophic losses. This authoritative text offers a sound grasp of the current realities of insurance practice.

This authoritative work forms a comprehensive examination of the legal and historical context of marine insurance, providing a detailed overview of the events and factors leading to its codification in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. It investigates the development of the legal principles and case law that underpin the Act to reveal how successful this codification truly was, and to demonstrate how these historical precedents remain relevant to marine insurance law to this day. Beginning with the pivotal year of 1756, Rob Merkin QC organises his analysis era by era, situating the leading cases and emerging fundamentals of the marine insurance industry in the context of external events such as war, the growth of free international trade, and the expansion of empire. Offering insight into the origins of familiar legal principles in the field, the book provides a deeper understanding of the legal framework within which historical events took place and how this shaped both the development of marine insurance law and the political and economic circumstances surrounding it. Key features include: In-depth research by one of the leading experts in marine insurance law Context for and therefore deeper understanding of legal principles in the field An authoritative account of the development of modern law of marine insurance through its historical roots. Legal historians interested in marine insurance and international maritime law more broadly as well as other historians of the period will find the depth of research and breadth of coverage in this book invaluable. Its grounding of important principles in their historical context will also be useful to practising lawyers in the field grappling with current marine insurance issues.

It is widely acknowledged that insurance has a major impact on the operation of tort and contract law regimes in practice, yet there is little sustained analysis of their interaction. The majority of academic private lawyers have little knowledge of insurance law in its own right, and the amount of discussion directed to insurance in private law theory is disproportionately small in relation to its practical importance. Filling this substantial gap in the literature, this book explores the multiple influences of insurance in the law of obligations, and the nature and impact of insurance law as an inherent and significant aspect of private law. It combines conceptual and doctrinal analysis, informing the theoretical discussion of the nature of private law, including the role of judicial and public purpose, and the place of formalism and of contextualism in normative theories of private law.
Arguing for the wider recognition of the multiple impacts of insurance, the book claims that recognition of the presence of insurance necessarily marks a departure from the two-party framework sometimes described as definitive of private law. The structured exploration and interpretation of the contemporary role of insurance in the law of obligations, and of its implications, illuminates this under-explored area of private law, and equips the reader for further enquiry and debate.

The 4th edition of this leading introductory text - now under the sole authorship of Rob Merkin QC - provides a detailed examination of the developing law of insurance, combining exposition of the law with critical analysis. The book is designed primarily for undergraduate and postgraduate students, but is also a useful resource for those in the insurance industry studying for professional examinations and legal practitioners who need a concise guide to the legal principles. The text is enhanced by extensive citations to case law and academic commentaries; and a new companion website delivers annual case law updates. This new edition has been substantially rewritten in light of the transformation of insurance law in recent years. The text has been revised to include new legislation and coverage of the effects of Brexit. However, the approach and - where possible - the analysis of John Lowry and Philip Rawlings have been retained. The first part of the book considers the regulation of insurance business and the general principles underlying the law of insurance contracts. The second part examines the way those principles are shaped by the context in which they operate. A new chapter with case studies on COVID-19, earthquakes, and mesothelioma applies the principles to the problems and uncertainties for insurance law revealed by catastrophic losses. This authoritative text offers a sound grasp of the current realities of insurance practice.