Chubb General Insurance: Duty of Disclosure

What is your duty of disclosure

When You apply for our insurance, We ask you questions. You have a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation before entering into this insurance contract. This means You are responsible for providing Us with complete, honest, and accurate responses to all of our questions. This is referred to as Your duty of disclosure. Your duty also applies when You, as the policyholder, answer on behalf of another insured.

When you need to disclose

Before entering into a contract of insurance with Us, each prospective insured policyholder has a duty to answer all questions We ask carefully, completely and honestly. This includes answering our questions about You, any other people, and all property and risks insured under this contract. Your duty also applies when You provide information to your broker who is arranging the contract of insurance.

Each prospective insured policyholder must understand all information provided in support of the application for insurance and that take care to make sure it is correct. Each insured policyholder will be bound by the answers and information provided.

Your duty of disclosure continues until the contract of insurance is finalized. This includes notifying Us of any relevant changes that occur before the contract is entered into.

You also have the same duty to disclose relevant information to Us before renewal, extension, variation, or reinstatement of a contract of insurance with Us. You should also provide all relevant information when You make a claim or if circumstances change during the term of the contract of insurance.

We encourage You to ask Us questions if You do not understand any part of the application process or the information provided. It is important for You to understand Your duty and the potential consequences of failing to meet this obligation, before proceeding with your application.

Consequences of not disclosing

If you deliberately or recklessly (i.e. without caring about the consequences) fail to provide us with truthful information, we reserve the right to treat the contract as if it had never been entered into (or is terminated from the time when the  

variation was made) and refuse all claims under that contract. In such cases, we will retain any premiums you have paid:

If you make a careless or accidental mistake in your answers, we will assess the situation based on what we would have done had we been aware of the correct information:

• If we would not have provided you with the policy at all or would not have varied the policy, we may treat the contract as if it never existed and will return any premiums you have paid.
• If we would have offered or varied the policy on different terms, we may treat the policy as though those terms had been in place from the outset.
• If we would have charged a higher premium, we reserve the right to increase your future premiums or reduce any claim payouts on existing claims, in proportion to the premium we would have charged.