This new edition of Sutton on Insurance Law makes a welcome return to the Thomson Reuters insurance practitioners' library in 2014. The 4th edition builds on the authority and reputation of earlier editions of Sutton while covering the sweeping Australian developments in legislation, regulation and case law since the last edition was published in 1999. As with previous editions, the text contains discussion of the most important English and Australian cases, thereby emphasising that the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) is far from a comprehensive code and that many issues of principle as well as of interpretation remain firmly within the province of the common law. The partnership of Professor Robert Merkin and Ian Enright, under the Honourable Michael Kirby's consulting editorship, gives authoritative structure and detail to this account of modern Australian insurance law. The background and credentials of the authors infuse the work with insights into Australian issues from a contrast and comparison of current Australian and English law. The ordered structure reflects the issues that arise in a modern insurance contract, integrating legislation, regulation and case law around current commercial issues. The clear and practical style makes the work a rich resource for lawyers and insurance market practitioners. Taking a new approach which will assist readers, the authors have attempted to focus the discussion on the practical implications of regulatory and judicial development. Key features : The text plots a clear path through the multitude of conflicting approaches to the nature of insurance, following the golden thread of the indemnity principle, from sales warranties through financial reinsurance to credit default swaps. There is a detailed account of insurance regulation in Australia which reflects the legislation, regulatory standards and guidelines as well as current market practice. The book tracks the blurring of prudential and market conduct regulation against the divergent attractions of the Ratings Agencies and Self Regulation in the context of the international influences from the US and Europe. A new chapter on intermediaries and selling insurance blends the common law, the ghosts of the Insurance Agents and Brokers Act and the current financial services law into an account of the activities, regulation, role and retainer of an intermediary in their commercial context (while also considering the consequences of the agency: contracts, liability and insurance). The material on the duty of utmost good faith, heavily amended as a result of the Insurance Contracts Amendment Act 2013, is split into two chapters: one on the general principle of utmost good faith; and the other on the specific application of the principle to pre-contract disclosure and representations by the potential assured. The chapter on illegality has been entirely recast, and there is a new chapter on loss of rights. As regards losses and claims, there is substantial new material on the presentation of claims to insurers, and on the measure of indemnity: there have been major case law developments in these fields, and the text brings out the increased significance of issues such as causation aggregation and mitigation of loss. New chapters on major types of insurance contracts The new chapters on the major types of insurance contracts: life, property, marine, liability and reinsurance enhance this authoritative and accessible text. The life insurance chapter captures the essentials for the lawyer in modern types of cover - the risk covers: life, terminal illness, trauma and TPD, looking at: Individual and group insurance Insurance in superannuation The new section 29 The future of TPD Suicide and mental illness Illegality Subrogation on risk products Life reinsurance The property chapter analyses: All risks cover Insure perils Exclusions Transit and fidelity insurance Business interruption Sale and purchase of land First party motor cover The marine chapter traces the history of marine insurance and with references to the Marine Insurance Act 1909 (Cth). There are relatively few Australian authorities so this discussion is complemented with coverage of the changes occurring in the last decade which has seen a transformation of marine principles by the English courts, affecting issues such as causation, perils of the seas, piracy and inherent vice. The liability chapter gives a new breadth and depth to the last edition's treatment with an authoritative Anglo-Australian approach to the coverage and claims issues in the modern law on public liability, product liability, Directors and Officers Insurance and professional indemnity. The comprehensive reinsurance chapter traces the anatomy of a reinsurance agreement from formation to dispute resolution. Topics include: Definition of reinsurance Formation of reinsurance contracts Terms, their genesis and meaning Losses, claims and settlements This new edition of "Sutton on Insurance Law" will be an essential resource for all insurance lawyers and business professionals involved in this area of law.