The Recent Developments in Construction of Terms in English Insurance Law after The Court of Appeal Decision on Friends Provident Life & Pensions Ltd v. Sirius International Insurance

Until recently, in English law, the Courts had adopted the view that a serious breach of an innominate term of a policy gives the insurer the right to treat the claim as repudiated. However, the majority of the Court of Appeal in Friends Provident Life & Pensions Ltd v. Sirius International Insurance2 has given recent consideration to the breach of a claims condition in a policy and via their ruling, they have overturned what had been thought for a long time as set- tled principles governing the effects of a breach of a condition in an insurance contract. The issue involved was the interpretation of the term “innominate term” and it was discussed whether or not a suf- ficiently serious breach of those terms, which accordingly brought serious consequences, might entitle the insurer to repudiate his liability for the claim.