Duty of Fair Presentation as a Substitute for Disclosure in Commercial Insurance

This study aims to examine and criticize the insured’s duty of disclosure, as his main duty, in the insurance contract which set in Iran insurance Act and also proposed in Insurance Bill. Finally, suggestions will be provided for amendment in Insurance Act and applying in Insurance Bill.

This research prepared in the descriptive-analytical method by using library sources.

Today, the insured's obligation to disclose has lost its original foundations and needs to be "modified" or annulled. In order to modify this obligation, the duty of fair presentation can be proposed. The second approach is insured’s obligation of disclosure, by providing sufficient information to draw insurer’s attention to important matters, so that the insurer may seek further information if necessary.

In Iranian insurance law, the insured's obligation to disclose, as set forth in Insurance Act 1937, is similar to the obligation to disclose in Marine Insurance Act 1906. This obligation today no longer enjoys the justification it had at the time the laws were enacted. It is therefore necessary to consider and address this issue in the "Commercial Insurance Bill", which was submitted to the parliament in order to replace Iran's Insurance Act, and to include a more appropriate duty, such as the obligation to introduce fair presentation is proposed.