Privy Council Considers Fraudulent Devices And The Need For Dishonest Intention

A (genuine) fire at the insured's premises destroyed all its stock. Insurers repudiated liability on the ground that the insured had submitted false invoices (purportedly showing amounts paid by the insured for stock) in support of its claim (a condition in the policy expressly provided that all benefit under the policy would be forfeited if any false declarations were made, or fraudulent devices were used, in support of a claim). At first instance, the judge found that the insured had not used fraudulent devices. He held, broadly, that invoices had been altered but that there had been no fraudulent purpose (eg because the stock in question had genuinely been...