BILL 30

An Act to Amend the Insurance Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 The Insurance Act, chapter I-12 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is amended by adding after section 116 the following:

RECOVERY BY INNOCENT PERSONS

Recovery by innocent persons

116.1( 1) If a contract contains a term or condition excluding coverage for loss or damage to property caused by a criminal or intentional act or omission of an insured or any other person, the exclusion applies only to the claim of a person

( a)  whose act or omission caused the loss or damage,

( b)  who abetted or colluded in the act or omission,

( c)  who

( i) consented to the act or omission, and

( ii) knew or ought to have known that the act or omission would cause the loss or damage, or

(d)  who is not a natural person.

116.1( 2) Nothing in subsection (1) allows a person whose property is insured under the contract to recover more than the person’s proportionate interest in the lost or damaged property.

116.1( 3) A person whose coverage would be excluded but for subsection (1) shall

( a)  cooperate with the insurer in respect of the investigation of the loss, including by submitting to an examination under oath if requested by the insurer,

( b)  in addition to producing any documents required by the contract, produce for examination, at a reasonable place and time specified by the insurer, all documents in the person’s possession or control that relate to the loss, and

( c)  comply with any other requirement prescribed by regulation.

116.1( 4) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing requirements with which persons shall comply for the purpose of paragraph (3)(c).