26.1 In an action1 to obtain an indemnity under an insurance contract, the insured must inter alia satisfy two, to some extent overlapping, conditions. The first is substantive: that there has been an insured loss. Secondly, the insured must satisfy the procedural requirements of the claims process. However, even when these two conditions are satisfied, the presence of a third condition may defeat the claim: viz, the insured should not contravene any overriding policy rule applying to the claims process. The third condition is in one sense a particular aspect of the second; but it also merits independent status—for the effect of non-compliance with the first and second conditions is that the insurer is not prima facie liable, whereas contravention of the third condition may defeat a claim which is otherwise valid.