The Nature of Insurance came about to offset any loss that an individual or those engaged in business may suffer through the occurrence of some unforeseen event. To offset this loss the commercial world developed the contract of insurance. In return for a fee the individual, or the business enterprise, would be indemnified for the loss suffered on the occurrence of the event insured against. Contracts of insurance cover a wide field such as life assurance, personal accident public liability, damage to property and general liability insurance.
A contract of insurance is a contract whereby one party, called the insurer, agrees in return for a payment called the premium to pay a sum of money to another, called the insured, on the occurrence of a certain event, or to indemnify the insured against the loss caused by the risk which is insured against. Policies of insurance are of two broad types: life assurance, which insures against an event that must happen, namely, death; and liability insurance, which insures against events that may happen.
A contract of insurance may be in any form, such as by deed, in writing, or verbal. In practice such a contract is embodied in a written document called a policy, which expressly states all the terms of the contract.
Three elements are essential to an insurance contract:
(a) consideration must pass to the Insurer. This usually takes the form of periodic payments, called premiums;
(b) there must be some degree of uncertainty as to whether the event insured against will happen, or if it is bound to happen, as to when it will happen
(c) the event, if or when it happens, must be adverse to the interest of the insured.
Insurance business in Irel ...