Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

INSURANCE CONTRACTS ACT 1984 - SECT 37D

  (1)   This section applies in relation to a prescribed contract that includes provisions ( flood provisions ) that provide insurance cover in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, one or more flood events (whether or not the contract expressly provides insurance cover for flood as defined by the regulations).

  (2)   The flood provisions of the prescribed contract are taken to provide insurance cover in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, flood as defined by the regulations.

  (3)   The insurer under the prescribed contract may not refuse to pay a claim in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, the happening of a flood event by reason only that, but for subsection   (2), insurance cover in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, that event was not provided by the contract.

  (4)   If the prescribed contract includes provisions (also flood provisions ) that provide different maximum amounts of insurance cover in respect of different flood events, those provisions are taken to provide a maximum amount of insurance cover in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, flood, as defined by the regulations, equal to the highest maximum amount (the maximum flood cover amount ) of insurance cover provided by those provisions in respect of any flood event.

  (5)   The insurer under the prescribed contract may not refuse to pay an amount equal to the maximum flood cover amount in relation to a claim in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, the happening of a flood event by reason only that, but for subsection   (4), the maximum amount of insurance cover provided by the contract in respect of loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, that event was less than the maximum flood cover amount.

  (5A)   To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the operation of any provisions of a prescribed contract that are not flood provisions.

  (6)   This section has effect in relation to a prescribed contract whether or not the insurer clearly informed the insured of the purported effect of the flood provisions in the contract.

  (7)   In this section:

"flood event" means an event that is, or would be, a flood as defined by the regulations.