Stamp Act 1891

Policies of Sea Insurance

92Meaning of policy of sea insurance

(1)For the purposes of this Act the expression " policy of sea insurance " means any insurance (including reinsurance) made upon any ship or vessel, or upon the machinery, tackle, or furniture of any ship or vessel, or upon any goods, merchandise, or property of any description whatever on board of any ship or vessel, or upon, the freight of, or any other interest which may be lawfully insured in or relating to, any ship or vessel, and includes any insurance of goods, merchandise, or property for any transit which includes not only a sea risk, but also any other risk incidental to the transit insured from the commencement of the transit to the ultimate destination covered by the insurance.

(2)Where any person, in consideration of any sum of money paid or to be paid for additional freight or otherwise, agrees to take upon himself any risk attending goods, merchandise, or property of any description whatever while on board, of any ship or vessel, or engages to indemnify the owner of any such goods, merchandise, or property from any risk, loss, or damage, such agreement or engagement shall be deemed to be a contract for sea insurance.

93Contract to be in writing

(1)A contract for sea insurance (other than such insurance as is referred to in the fifty-fifth section of the [25 & 26 Vict. c. 63.] Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862) shall not be valid unless the same is expressed in a policy of sea insurance.

(2)No policy of sea insurance made for time shall be made for any time exceeding twelve months.

(3)A policy of sea insurance shall not be valid unless it specifies the particular risk or adventure, the names of the subscribers or underwriters, and the sum or sums insured, and is made for a period not exceeding twelve months.

94Policy for voyage and time chargeable with two duties

Where any sea insurance is made for a voyage and also, for time, or to extend to or cover any time beyond thirty days after the ship shall have arrived at her destination and been there moored at anchor, the policy is to be charged with duty as a policy for a voyage, and also with duty as a policy for time.

95No policy valid unless duly stamped

(1)A policy of sea insurance may not be stamped at any time after it is signed or underwritten by any person, except in the two cases following; that is to say,

(a)Any policy of mutual insurance having a stamp impressed thereon may, if required, be stamped with an additional stamp provided that at the time when the additional stamp is required the policy has not been signed or underwritten to an amount exceeding the sum or sums which the duty impressed thereon extends to cover:

(b)Any policy made or executed out of, but being in any manner enforceable within, the United Kingdom, may be stamped at any time within ten days after it has been first received in the United Kingdom on payment of the duty only.

(2)Provided that a policy of sea insurance shall for the purpose of production in evidence be an instrument which may legally be stamped after the execution thereof, and the penalty payable by law on stamping the same shall be the sum of one hundred pounds.

96Legal alterations in policies may be made under certain restrictions

Nothing in this Act shall prohibit the making of any alteration which may lawfully be made in the terms and conditions of any policy of sea insurance after the policy has been underwritten ; provided that the alteration be made before notice of the determination of the risk originally insured, and that it do not prolong the time covered by the insurance thereby made beyond the period of six months in the case of a policy made for a less period than six months, or beyond the period of twelve months in the case of a policy made for a. greater period than six months, and that the articles insured remain the property of the same person or persons, and that no additional or further sum be insured by reason or means of the alteration.

97Penalty on assuring unless-policy duly stamped

(1)If any person—

(a)becomes an assurer upon any sea insurance, or enters into any contract for sea insurance, or directly or indirectly receives or contracts or takes credit in account for any premium or consideration for any sea insurance, or knowingly takes upon 'himself any risk, or renders himself liable to pay, or pays, any sum of money upon any loss, peril, or contingency relative to any sea insurance, unless the insurance is expressed in a policy of sea insurance duly stamped, or

(b)makes or effects, or knowingly procures to be made or effected, any sea insurance, or directly or indirectly gives or pays, or renders himself liable to pay, any premium, or consideration for any sea insurance, or enters into any contract for sea insurance, unless the insurance is expressed in a policy of sea insurance duly stamped, or

(c)is concerned in any fraudulent contrivance or device, or is guilty of any wilful act, neglect, or omission, with intent to evade the duties payable on policies of sea insurance, or whereby the duties may be evaded,

he shall for every such offence incur a fine of one hundred pounds.

(2)Every broker, agent, or other person negotiating or transacting any sea insurance contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Act, or writing any policy of sea insurance upon material not duly stamped, shall for every such offence incur a fine of one hundred pounds, and shall not have any legal claim to any charge for brokerage, commission, or agency, or for any money expended or paid by him with reference to the insurance, and any money paid to him in respect of any such charge shall be deemed to be paid without consideration, and shall remain the property of his employer.

(3)If any person makes or issues, or causes to be made or issued, any document purporting to be a copy of a policy of sea insurance, and there is not at the time of the making or issue in existence a policy duly stamped whereof the said document is a copy, he shall for such offence in addition to any other fine or penalty to which he may be liable incur a fine of one hundred pounds.