ABSTRACT
Regional jurisprudence indicates respect for Commonwealth decisions on insurable interest relating to indemnity insurance. At common law, the conventional test for insurable interest is the insured’s possession of some legal, equitable or contractual interest in the subject matter of the policy. Before exploring the legal position on insurable interest relating to property, it is important to observe academic criticism of the term ‘insurable interest.’ It is argued that the term insurable interest is manifestly a misnomer, the proper term being ‘insurable relationship,’ that factual expectation of damage should be the exclusive test of an insurable relationship. The position in the Commonwealth Caribbean is that although guidance is attained by regional Marine Insurance Acts – replicas of the 1906 Marine Insurance Act – little common law exists. In the Commonwealth Caribbean, however, an important caveat to the general proposition operates.
