Page 18: of Marine News Magazine (April 2022)

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Column

Insurance

What is the Insured’s Duty Under a

Marine Insurance Policy? It Depends

By Thomas H. Belknap, Jr., Partner, Blank Rome

The law governing marine insurance in the United States has long been a source of consider- established the “litmus test” for when maritime law should able confusion. And if there was once a clear set of prin- govern and when the courts should instead look to state ciples applicable in such cases, the Supreme Court long law in interpreting marine insurance contracts. ago muddied the waters with their infamous ruling in Faced with the question whether an insured’s policy

Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 348 U.S. should be voided for breach of policy warranties when the 310 (1955). That case, involving a ? re on a houseboat on insured has made misrepresentations in the application an inland man-made lake on the Texas-Oklahoma border, that bear no relationship to the actual risk or claimed loss, © Aerial Mike / Adobe Stock 18 | MN April 2022