ABSTRACT
Given their historic antecedents, the treatment of insurance warranties in New Zealand initially followed a very similar evolution to that in England and Wales and Australia. As in those jurisdictions, legislative codification of the law occurred under statute in the early twentieth century (the New Zealand Marine Insurance Act 1908); in addition the common law in New Zealand regularly relied upon precedents from the courts in England and Wales. New Zealand however reformed its treatment of insurance warranties in advance of both England and Wales and Australia. The common law position in relation to insurance warranties was dramatically altered by Insurance Law Reform Act 1977. Prior to that Act, the most effective way of establishing that a provision was a warranty was to provide for automatic termination in the event of a breach. In order to provide full impact of the reforms in the Insurance Law Reform Act, s14 of the Act states that nothing in the Marine Insurance Act 1908 shall limit any provision of the Insurance Law Reform Act. This chapter critically reviews the New Zealand approach, concluding that, while it offers significant advantages over the previous position, it also falls short of providing an optimum approach and tilts the balance too far in favour of the insured.
