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Liability Insurance Law (LAWS90025)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
May
Lecturers
Mr John Tesarsch, Coordinator
Mr Tony Horan
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 6190
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | May |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Insurance is a cornerstone of effective risk transfer. It is often critical to the viability of commercial enterprises and transactions. However, insurance contracts and arrangements have become increasingly complex, and specialised knowledge is required to understand their operation and limitations. This subject will provide an in-depth understanding of liability insurance, which indemnifies insureds against liability to third parties, and comprises a large part of the insurance market. It will examine the roles and obligations of participants in the insurance industry, different types of liability insurance, key principles of the common law regarding insurance, and legislative intervention, especially the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth), including recent amendments to that Act. The lecturers are barristers specialising in insurance law, who for many years have represented and advised both Australian and overseas insurers.
Principal topics include:
- The structure and operation of contracts of liability insurance, and the main forms of liability insurance, including professional indemnity insurance public and products liability insurance and directors’ and officers’ insurance
- The operation of the insurance industry and the roles of various insurance industry participants, such as underwriters (including Lloyd's syndicates), excess insurers, co-insurers, reinsurers, captives, underwriting agents, claims officers, lawyers, insurance brokers and loss adjusters
- An overview of the legislative and regulatory framework for the Australian insurance industry
- The construction of insuring clauses and extensions
- The construction of exclusion clauses and conditions, including cross-liability, severability and non-imputation clauses
- The operation and effect of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) and its interplay with the laws of contract, equity and tort, and with the Australian Consumer Law,on matters including:
- The duty of utmost good faith
- Misrepresentation and non-disclosure
- Notification of claims and circumstances
- Section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) and remedies for breach of insurance contracts
- Cancellation of insurance contracts
- Rights of third party beneficiaries
- Subrogation
- Double insurance
- An analysis of issues requiring further legislative reform.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have advanced technical skills required to analyse liability insurance contracts, including insuring clauses, extensions, exclusions and conditions found in those contracts
- Have a sophisticated understanding of the key common law and equitable principles affecting liability insurance contracts, including subrogation, double insurance, waiver, estoppel and election
- Have specialised knowledge of various forms of liability insurance contracts such as professional indemnity insurance, public and products liability insurance, and directors’ and officers’ insurance
- Have specialised knowledge of the roles played by various insurance industry participants, such as underwriters (including Lloyds syndicates), excess insurers, co-insurers, reinsurers, captives, underwriting agents, claims officers, lawyers, insurance brokers and loss adjusters
- Have a detailed understanding of the operation of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) and its interface with the common law and equity, in particular regarding the duty of utmost good faith, misrepresentation and non-disclosure, rights of third party beneficiaries, notification of claims and claim circumstances, and subrogation
- Be able to critically assess the effectiveness of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)and the common law, and to articulate arguments regarding the need for legislative reform for specialist audiences.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Melbourne Law Masters Students: None
JD Students: Successful completion of the below subject:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50029 | Contracts | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
- Take-home examination (5,000 - 6,000 words) (100%) (16 - 19 June)
or - 8,000 - 10,000 word research paper (100%) (9 August) on a topic approved by the subject coordinator
A minimum of 75% attendance is a hurdle requirement.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- May
Principal coordinator John Tesarsch Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 24-26 hours Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 5 April 2017 Teaching period 3 May 2017 to 9 May 2017 Last self-enrol date 31 January 2017 Census date 3 May 2017 Last date to withdraw without fail 23 June 2017 Assessment period ends 9 August 2017 May contact information
Lecturers
Mr John Tesarsch, Coordinator
Mr Tony HoranEmail: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 6190
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Time commitment details
136-150 hours The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist printed materials will be made available free of charge from the Melbourne Law School prior to the pre-teaching period.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
- Links to additional information
law.unimelb.edu.au
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
Last updated: 3 November 2022