Reforming the duty of utmost good faith/fair presentation in Hong Kong

Student thesis: Doctoral ThesisDoctor of Philosophy

Abstract

This thesis aims to propose a reform on the current duty of utmost good faith in Hong Kong commercial insurance law. The duty has long been criticised on the basis that it is insurer-friendly and outdated. Although a call for reform was raised in Hong Kong in 1986, the attempt was in vain, and there has not been any major law reform in this area. In England and Wales, the Insurance Act 2015 came into force on 12th August 2016, and the duty of utmost good faith was replaced by the duty of fair presentation. In Hong Kong, English law was strictly adopted before the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. After 1997, Hong Kong became part of China’s territory and is not obliged to follow any legal reform in England and Wales. Nevertheless, the author suggests that it is now the time to discuss the reform of the duty. The main theme of this thesis, therefore, is about how the duty should be reformed in Hong Kong. Each chapter of this thesis will be divided into three parts. Firstly, the problems with the current duty in Hong Kong will be identified. There are two types of problems, namely the problems that are commonly shared between English law and Hong Kong law, and the problems that only Hong Kong experiences. Secondly, the chapter will discuss whether adopting the model of the Insurance Act 2015 can resolve the problems that have been identified. Lastly, reform suggestion for the Hong Kong commercial insurance law will be presented. In the final chapter, all the reform suggestions in the previous chapters will be gathered and a concrete reform proposal will be put forward for the current legislation that is related to the duty of utmost good faith in Hong Kong.
Date of Award1 Aug 2019
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • King's College London
SupervisorOzlem Gurses (Supervisor) & James Lee (Supervisor)

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