A recent decision by the First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Madame Justice Anna Felice and delivered on the 18th February 2015 makes an important contribution to the body of Maltese insurance substantive law. In the case Doctor Zammit Lewis noe et vs Middle Sea Valletta Life Assurance Co. Limited, the court notes not only is it a well-known and established fact that an insurance contract is regulated by the principle of the uberrimae fidei, which requires the proposer to a contract of insurance to make a full disclosure of all material facts, but also that in the matter of long term business of insurance contracts, where a policy might have lapsed (for non-payment of the premium), if the "policyholder" is entitled by virtue of a contractual condition to revive the policy or to re-apply for cover, the "policyholder" is once again bound by the duty to disclose material facts.
The Court goes on to recognize that this duty binds the "policyholder" independently of whether or not the insurance company requests the specific material information relating to the said policyholder's continued eligibility for life insurance cover. In the circumstances of this case, the life insurance company actually asked the said questions in respect of which the "policyholder" replied in an untrue fashion. It follows that by the "policyholder's" false representations and non-disclosure on the revival application, he rendered the policy revival as void and of no legal effect.
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