The Influence of Marine Insurance Law on the Legal Development of Life and Fire Insurance in England

This book addresses the question whether English insurance law is in its entirety rooted in marine insurance. English literature and case law indeed assert that life and fire insurance are nothing more than offspring of marine insurance. To describe life and fire insurance law as offspring of marine insurance suggests that the legal rules and principles as developed in the context of marine insurance were simply transferred as a whole to life and fire insurance. However, it is possible that the legal development happened differently. There could rather have been a convergence of the different legal regimes. To speak of a gradual convergence suggests that marine insurance law was transposed into life and fire insurance law only where appropriate. By analyzing this research question, the book unfolds the roots of modern insurance business in England as well as the evolution of English insurance law.