International commercial insurance law

LWM70

Insurance is an essential element in nearly all commercial transactions and many situations encountered by private individuals. The UK insurance industry has an international, indeed worldwide importance. It’s a subject with long historical roots but is also going through a period of change and reform making this an interesting time to study this subject. This course will enable you to study the development of commercial insurance law and to engage with the cases and problems that will give you an understanding of the reality of decision making and problem solving in this field of law.

Study as an individual course

Module A: The contract of reinsurance

LWM70A

The definition of reinsurance
Regulation of reinsurance business
Forms of reinsurance: facultative contracts; treaties
Relationship between assured, insurer and reinsurer
Formation and insurable interest
Utmost good faith
Express, implied and incorporated terms

Module B: Reinsurance losses and claims

LWM70B

Back to back cover
Follow the settlements and follow the fortunes
Claims co-operation and claims control clauses
Aggregation of losses
Post-loss allocation
Inspection clauses

Module C: Liability insurance

LWM70C

Forms of liability insurance: event, injury, claims made
Compulsory insurance regimes: motor; employers’ liability; maritime law
Professional indemnity insurance
Directors’ and Officers’ insurance
Product liability insurance
Defence costs
Third party rights

Module D: Conflict of laws in insurance

LWM70D

Jurisdiction of the English courts
Law applicable to insurance and reinsurance contracts
Operation of the applicable law rules

Assessment

Each module is assessed by a 45-minute unseen written exam.

Sequence

It is strongly recommended you take Module A before Module B.

How to apply

You can apply to study a module individually as a standalone unit or as part of a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or Master of Laws qualification. (In either scenario, they must be studied in order.)

These modules also contribute towards the following specialist pathways for Laws:

Commercial and Corporate Law
Common Law
Financial Services Law
Insurance Law
International Business Law

Apply via Postgraduate Laws.

Dr Özlem Gürses

Dr Ozlem Gurses is currently a Reader in Insurance and Commercial Law at King's College London. Ozlem previously taught at Southampton from 2010 - 2016. She is a member of the Presidential Council (UK representative) of the Association of Insurance Law (AIDA). She is also a member of the Reinsurance Working Party of AIDA and regularly presents papers at the Reinsurance Working Party meetings. In October 2014, she also presented a paper at the Marine Insurance Working Party.

Ozlem joined The Dickson Poon School of Law in September 2016 as Reader of Insurance and Commercial Law. Previously, she taught at the Norwich and Southampton Law Schools. She has published extensively in insurance and reinsurance law, the most recent of which are a chapter on property insurance for Insurance Disputes (by Informa, forthcoming) and the marine insurance chapter of Maritime Law (Routledge, forthcoming). Ozlem regularly presents her research at home and abroad. Most recently she delivered two papers at a conference in Perth - Australia in May 2017. She received the Vice-Chancellor Teaching Award by the University of Southampton in 2016 prior to joining King's College London. Ozlem is a member of the Presidential Council and the Reinsurance Working Party of International Insurance Law Association/Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA).