ABSTRACT
We frequently hear how often people with no connection with the UK elect for English law to govern their insurance arrangements. When asked why, the general reply from international operators is that it is because, unlike other systems, the English approach to insurance is generally down-to-earth, pragmatic and businessfriendly. Very often, indeed, that is true. But one also has to remember that at times this same English law can be astonishingly stupid, perverse and doctrinaire. The question of liability – or rather lack of liability – for late payment of insurance indemnity claims is a case in point. Its sorry history forms the background to this chapter; its recent statutory reform by the revised Insurance Act 2015, the subject of it.
