Duty to Disclose

It is vital that details of all claims including incidents or matters that could lead to a claim are advised to the Manager, Insurance and Risk Management, Kazia Lombardo [t: 6620 3696; e: kazia.lombardo@scu.edu.au] . Failure to advise both the University and the insurer could prejudice our/your insurance rights.

It is an offence under the Insurance Contracts Act of 1984 for an insured to not 'Disclose' to the insurer a matter that is known, or could be reasonably expected to be known, that would be relevant to the insurer's decision whether to accept the risk of insurance and, if so, on what terms. The duty to disclose applies when a policy is renewed, extended, varied or reinstated.

The insurance officer is to be informed should any of the following be planned or arise:

a) Acquisitions or creation of departments, centres, institutes, or foundations.
b) Purchase, construction or occupancy of new premises (this should be advised during the planning stage).
c) Alteration, vacation, temporary vacancy; extension or demolition of existing premises.
d) Proposed installation of new plant or key machinery.
e) Hire, leasing or borrowing of substantial amounts of plant and equipment.
f) Prior to entering into contracts or agreements.
g) Granting of indemnities or hold harmless agreements in lease contracts, service agreements and the like.
h) Extension of operations, development of new products etc.
i) Proposed installation of major equipment or similar.
j) Disconnection of burglar alarms or any fire prevention or detection system.
k) Charter of air or watercraft, other than commercial passenger travel.
l) Export of products overseas (particularly USA or Canada).
m) Any commercial dealing in USA or Canada.

Failure to comply with 'duty of disclosure' could result in the insurer declining liability in respect of a claim or cancelling the policy.

Note: All insurance policies contain exclusions, conditions and excesses. The success of any insurance claim will therefore depend upon the individual circumstances of each case.

Updated: 26 May 2011