Luis arrives home from work one day to discover that his apartment building is on fire. He drives directly to an insurance agency to buy renters insurance, since he realized he didn't have coverage for this loss. Luis does not tell his agent that the building is on fire. There is also not a question on the application for coverage that asks if Luis' apartment is currently on fire. Luis pays the first premium, and the agent issues a coverage binder. Which of the following statements is/are true?
I. Luis committed a misrepresentation, so coverage may be voided at the option of the insurer.
II. Luis breached a warranty, but the insurer will have to prove he did so fraudulently in order to deny coverage.
III. Luis committed a concealment that was material to the risk, thus his coverage can be voided by the insurer as long as the insurer can prove that he concealed the fact with fraudulent intentions.

Question

Luis arrives home from work one day to discover that his apartment building is on fire. He drives directly to an insurance agency to buy renters insurance, since he realized he didn't have coverage for this loss. Luis does not tell his agent that the building is on fire. There is also not a question on the application for coverage that asks if Luis' apartment is currently on fire. Luis pays the first premium, and the agent issues a coverage binder. Which of the following statements is/are true?
 I. Luis committed a misrepresentation, so coverage may be voided at the option of the insurer.
II. Luis breached a warranty, but the insurer will have to prove he did so fraudulently in order to deny coverage.
III. Luis committed a concealment that was material to the risk, thus his coverage can be voided by the insurer as long as the insurer can prove that he concealed the fact with fraudulent intentions.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Luis committed a concealment by not disclosing that his apartment building was on fire, and this concealment was material to the risk. However, there was no question on the application for coverage that asked about the current state of the apartment building. Because of this, Luis did not commit a misrepresentation or breach a warranty. The insurer must be able to prove that he concealed the fact with fraudulent intentions in order to void his coverage. Therefore, only statement III is true.

Luis Arrives Home from Work One Day to Discover That