ABSTRACT
All commercial contracts, whether oral or written, contain express terms, which determine the obligations agreed to by the parties. Insurance contracts are no exception to this general principle and are also made up of express terms, which both define the extent of the cover and regulate the obligations of the parties, namely, the assured and insurer. An express warranty is one of the terms of an insurance contract and it contains a number of stipulations, either as to the existence or continuation of a certain state of affairs, or as to the performance or non-performance of some act by the assured. This chapter intends to explore express warranties in the context of marine insurance. In this respect, a detailed examination of the formation of express warranties is followed by a section which evaluates the rules adopted by the courts for their construction. Construction of an express warranty may be both essential and crucial, as disputes may arise as to its extent. After clarifying the issues as to formation and construction of express warranties, the standard examples of express warranties, which are usually employed in standard marine policies, are described for the purpose of illustration. At the end of the chapter, differences between express warranties and other terms of a marine insurance contract, such as conditions, exclusion clauses, etc, are evaluated. Such an examination is essential as different legal consequences are afforded for breach of different express terms.
