ABSTRACT
The Insurance Act changes the effect of an insurance warranty from a condition precedent to the insurer's liability to a suspensory condition. Whereas, breach of warranty discharged the insurer's liability immediately and permanently, under the Act the insurer's liability is automatically suspended, from the moment of breach. This is achieved through section 10(1), which abolishes any rule of law whereby breach of an express or implied insurance warranty results in automatic discharge of the insurer's liability. Under section 10(2), the insurer will not be liable for loss occurring or 'attributable to something happening' after a warranty has been breached, but before the breach has been remedied. The words 'attributable to' are broader than 'caused or contributed', and will presumably include cases in which there is no strict causal link between the thing that happened and the loss which subsequently occurs. Insurer has no liability for loss occurring or 'attributable to something happening' before a breach of warranty has been remedied.
