Study On Open Cover In Marine Insurance

Open cover is a kind of predigested insurance contract. When the contract is concluded, the two parties only stipulate the scope of cover, the range of property insured, the maximum amount of insurance of each risk or at each place and the method of setting premium, etc. Other details are declared by the insured before every shipment of every cargo. Because open cover can not only fulfill insurer's need of getting permanent premium, but also get rid of the insured's worry of omission declaration, it is frequently selected in marine insurance, especially during cargo transport by sea process. However, provisions about open cover are insufficient in existing legislation of PRC, and can only be found in Maritime Law, and rather rude. Therefore, there are always difficulties in resolving relevant disputes. At the same time, the scholars have different opinions about the characteristics and effects of retrospection of open cover, resulting in difficulties in legal practice.Beginning with basic theories, this paper first introduces open contract briefly, and then analyses and discusses problems both in theory and practice. In this paper, the author deems open cover itself as a pre-contract in nature. The insurable interest, effects of retrospections and declaration of open cover are all discussed based on this.With reference to authority precedence in UK, this thesis makes comparison and contrast of the legislation between UK and China, in order to perfect the legislation of open cover. At last, based on the issues in legal practice and the relevant suggestions of scholars in amending Maritime Law paper, it puts forward the suggestions to the perfection of open cover, in the hope of making some contributions to the practice of marine insurance.