The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1932

c i e
AT 1 of 1932

THE THIRD PARTIES (RIGHTS AGAINST

INSURERS) ACT 1932

The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1932 Index


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c i e
THE THIRD PARTIES (RIGHTS AGAINST INSURERS)

ACT 1932

Index Section Page

1 Short title .......................................................................................................................... 5
2 Rights of third parties against insurers on bankruptcy, etc., of the insured .......... 5
3 Duty to give necessary information to third parties .................................................. 6
4 Settlement between insurers and insured persons .................................................... 7
5 Commencement of Act .................................................................................................. 7
ENDNOTES 9

TABLE OF LEGISLATION HISTORY 9
TABLE OF RENUMBERED PROVISIONS 9
TABLE OF ENDNOTE REFERENCES 9

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c i e
THE THIRD PARTIES (RIGHTS AGAINST INSURERS)

ACT 1932

Received Royal Assent: 17 March 1932
Passed: 31 May 1932
Commenced: 31 May 1932
AN ACT
to confer on third parties rights against insurers of third-party risks in
the event of the insured becoming insolvent, and in certain other events.
1 Short title

This Act may be cited as “The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act, 1932”.
2 Rights of third parties against insurers on bankruptcy, etc., of the

insured

(1) Where under any contract of insurance a person (hereinafter referred to
as the insured) is insured against liabilities to third parties which he may
incur, then —
(a) in the event of the insured becoming bankrupt or making a
composition or arrangement with his creditors: or
(b) in the case of the insured being a company, in the event of a
winding-up order being made, or a resolution for a voluntary
winding-up being passed, with respect to the company, or of a
receiver or manager of the company’s business or undertaking
being duly appointed, or of possession being taken, by or on
behalf of the holders of any debentures secured by a floating
charge, of any property comprised in or subject to the charge;
if either before or after that event, any such liability as aforesaid is
incurred by the insured, his rights against the insured under the contract
in respect of the liability shall, notwithstanding anything in any Act or
rule of law to the contrary, be transferred to and vest in the third party to
whom the liability was so incurred.
(2) Where an order is made for the administration of the estate of a deceased
debtor, if any debt provable in the administration is owing by the
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deceased in respect of a liability against which he was insured under a
contract of insurance as being a liability to a third party, the deceased
debtor’s rights against the insurer under the contract in respect of that
liability shall, any law to the contrary notwithstanding, be transferred to
and vest in the person to whom the debt is owing.
(3) In so far any contract of insurance made after the commencement of this
Act in respect of any liability of the insured to third parties purports,
whether directly or indirectly, to avoid the contract or to alter the rights
of the parties thereunder upon the happening to the insured of any of the
events specified in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of
this section or upon the making of an order for administration of the
estate of a deceased debtor, the contract shall be of no effect.
(4) Upon a transfer under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of this section,
the insurer shall, subject to the provisions of section 4 of this Act, be
under the same liability to the third party as he would have been under
to the insured, but —
(a) if the liability of the insurer to the insured exceeds the liability of
the insured to the third party, nothing in this Act shall affect the
rights of the insured against the insurer in respect of the excess;
and
(b) if the liability of the insurer to the insured is less than the liability
of the insured to the third party, nothing in this Act shall affect
the rights of the third party against the insured in respect of the
balance.
(5) For the purposes of this Act, the expression “liabilities to third parties
”,
in relation to a person insured under any contract of insurance, shall not
include any liability of that person in the capacity of insurer under some
other contract of insurance.
(6) This Act shall not apply —
(a) where a company is wound up voluntarily merely for the
purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another
company.
(b) [Repealed]1

3 Duty to give necessary information to third parties

(1) In the event of any person becoming bankrupt or making a composition
or arrangement with his creditors, or in the event of an order being made
for the administration of the estate of any deceased debtor, or in the
event of a winding-up order being made, or a resolution for a voluntary
winding-up being passed, with respect to any company or of a receiver
or manager of the company’s business or undertaking being duly
appointed or of possession being taken by or on behalf of the holders of
any debentures secured by a floating charge of any property comprised
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in or subject to the charge it shall be the duty of the bankrupt, debtor,
personal representative of the deceased debtor or company, and, as the
case may be, of the trustee in bankruptcy, trustee, liquidator, receiver, or
manager, or person in possession of the property to give at the request of
any person claiming that the bankrupt, debtor, deceased debtor, or
company is under a liability to him such information as may reasonably
be required by him for the purpose of ascertaining whether any rights
have been transferred to and vested in him by this Act and for the
purpose of enforcing such rights, if any, and any contract of insurance, in
so far as it purports, whether directly or indirectly, to avoid the contract
or to alter the rights of the parties thereunder upon the giving of any
such information in the events aforesaid or otherwise to prohibit or
prevent the giving thereof in the said events shall be of no effect.
(2) If the information given to any person in pursuance of sub-section (1) of
this section discloses reasonable ground for supposing that there have or
may have been transferred to him under this Act rights against any
particular insurer, that insurer shall be subject to the same duty as is
imposed by the said sub-section on the persons therein mentioned.
(3) The duty to give information imposed by this section shall include a duty
to allow all contracts of insurance, receipts for premiums, and other
relevant documents in the possession or power of the person on whom
the duty is so imposed to be inspected and copies thereof to be taken.
4 Settlement between insurers and insured persons

Where the insured has become bankrupt or where, in the case of the insured
being a company, a winding-up order has been made or a resolution for a
voluntary winding-up has been passed, with respect to the company, no
agreement made between the insurer and the insured after liability has been
incurred to a third party and after the commencement of the bankruptcy or
winding-up as the case may be, nor any waiver, assignment, or other
disposition made by, or payment made to the insured after the commencement
aforesaid shall be effective to defeat or affect the rights transferred to the third
party under this Act, but those rights shall be the same as if no such agreement,
waiver, assignment, disposition or payment had been made.
5 Commencement of Act

This Act shall come into operation when the Royal Assent thereto has been by
the Governor announced to Tynwald, and a certificate thereof has been signed
by the Governor and the Speaker of the House of Keys.
The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1932 Endnotes


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ENDNOTES

Table of Legislation History

Legislation Year and No Commencement






Table of Renumbered Provisions

Original Current






Table of Endnote References

1
Para (b) repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1997 Sch 2.