General Insurance PrinciplesQuestion 176 of 474

The doctrine of utmost good faith in insurance contracting means that:

a.the insurer must pay every claim submitted without any investigation
b.each party relies on the honesty of the other in forming the contract
c.an agent's spoken promise outranks the printed policy wording
d.the insured may correct an untrue application answer after a loss

Explanation

Because the insurer prices a risk it cannot see, the applicant is expected to disclose material facts honestly and the insurer is expected to deal fairly in its wording and its claim handling. Investigating a claim is a right, not a breach of good faith, so the answer forbidding investigation is wrong. Fixing an answer only after the loss arrives is the opposite of good faith at the time of contracting.

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