The development of the principles of insurance law in the Netherlands from 1500 to 1800

Abstract

This study traces the development of the principles of insurance law in the Netherlands from 1500 to 1800. In the first part the origin of the insurance contract and its recognition and distinguishing features, and its classification and definition in pre-codified Dutch law are described. The adjudication of disputes arising from insurance contracts and the jurisdiction of Dutch courts in this regard are also considered. In the second part the principles of pre-codified Dutch insurance law are detailed, from the general requirements for the conclusion of a valid insurance contract to the termination of insurance contracts. In the process matters such as the object of risk and the perils insured against in marine insurance; aspects of non-marine insurance; the parties to the insurance contract, including the involvement of third parties; the premium, the duration, alteration and control of the risk; insurance fraud; loss and its prevention, notice and proof; the principle of indemnity and co-insurance, double insurance, over- insurance and under-insurance; and the insurer’s right of recourse and the doctrine of abandonment are also analysed.The primary materials consulted for this research were the published sources of Dutch insurance law prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In order to place developments in the Netherlands in a broader perspective, some comparative investigation was also undertaken into the earlier position in Spain, the contemporary position in Hamburg and London, and the subsequent codifications of insurance law in the Wetboek van Koophandel in the Netherlands and in the Marine Insurance Act of 1906 in England.