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Preface

IN MAY 1997 THE COMMISSION sent a written inquiry to industry organisations, legal practitioners active in the field and interested academic lawyers seeking expressions of opinion as to whether any, and if so which, areas of insurance law were in need of reform. By that process we identified the five discrete topics that are the subject of this report. Of all these topics it can be said that aspects of the existing law make the law unjust or inefficient and that in each case the problem is soluble by legislation. Where relevant, each chapter concludes with legislation that we propose be enacted as the Insurance Law Reform Amendment Act. The entire draft Act, with commentary, is set out at pages 59–81; throughout the text of the report and commentary we refer to draft provisions in full and in italic to distinguish them from references to current legislation.

The process then followed by the Commission was to circulate a draft report among those who had responded to its initial inquiry and certain interested government departments and agencies. In addition there were references to the draft and its availability in the Commission’s quarterly newsletter, Te Aka Körero, and in the New Zealand Law Society’s newsletter, LawTalk, which resulted in copies of the draft report being distributed to a number of further inquirers. That this was an effective method of consulting interested parties is we think clear from the list in appendix A of those who helped with responses to our initial inquiry or with submissions on our draft. This report has been greatly assisted by the help so readily given.