22-1 INTRODUCTION

A contract is voidable by a party to that contract, if induced to make the contract by misrepresentation; that party may also have the remedy of damages. In this respect insurance law is governed by the general law of contract.2 It is customary to separate discussion of misrepresentation and non-disclosure and this custom is observed in this book, except as regards remedies.3 However, it should be remembered that the line between misrepresentation and non-disclosure cannot be clearly drawn; that some rules of law operate in both contexts. In the past but no longer and that by the use of basis clauses4 insurers have sought to remove questions of misstatement in the proposal from the legal area of misrepresentation (and non-disclosure) altogether to that of warranty: above, 20-2B2.