Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3154: Insurance Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

This module aims to provide you with:

  • a good working knowledge of the core areas of insurance law, reflecting the changes recently introduced under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 and the Insurance Act 2015
  • an understanding of the respective roles of self-regulation, statutory regulation and ombudsmen;
  • insights into the way law is shaped, the lobbying power of industry, the willingness or reluctance of judges to intervene and the effectiveness of the law reform process—considering the respective roles of the Law Commissions and Parliament;
  • an external view of insurance, centred on the Equality Act 2010.

The module will enable you to:

  • assess critically the old and new law, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each,
  • identify which set of insurance law rules apply in any given situation and to advise on their impact,
  • explain when the service offered by the Financial Ombudsman Service is available and how its approach may differ from that of the courts, 
  • evaluate the effectiveness of the law reform process, using insurance as a case study

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the law relating to insurance and a substantial range of major concepts, values and principles relevant to its application.
2. Compare, analyse and synthesise the principal rules and theories relating to insurance.
3. Identify, explain and critically evaluate key issues in insurance and to apply relevant rules and theories.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Flexibly define complex legal problems, identify their relative significance and select appropriate methods for investigating and critically evaluating them.
5. Select, integrate and present coherently and reflectively, orally and/or in writing, relevant law and legal/theoretical arguments.
6. Apply legal knowledge to a case study and to suggest a conclusion supported by relevant arguments.
Personal and Key Skills7. Communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately, orally and/or in writing, in a manner appropriate to the discipline and in different contexts.
8. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance.
9. to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.