ABSTRACT
This Chapter highlights that the Law Commission’s (LC’s) proposals are not the only option for reform – the proposals, the academic discussion and the insurance contract laws of other jurisdictions show that there is a wide spectrum of possible approaches to insurable interest. The Insurable Interest Bill redefines the categories of insurable interest for life-related insurance but does not define insurable interest for property/indemnity insurance. The law needs to be flexible enough to embrace new market developments, but the doctrine of insurable interest should not be demonized as an obstacle to innovation. The academic debate on the questions whether and to what extent the doctrine of insurable interest should be reformed has centred on whether there ought to be an insurable interest requirement, and how insurable interest ought to be defined. The doctrine of insurable interest was absorbed into Cape Colony law through the adoption of English insurance law and developed into a validity requirement for contracts of insurance.
