Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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There many cases where claims are not being paid out because of questions posed in what the legislation would describe as plain and intelligible language. As a result, the claims are voided. This places an onus on the insurer not just to ask the question but to ask it plainly and in intelligible language, and where there is ambiguity or doubt about the meaning of a question the interpretation most favourable to the consumer will be taken. This is a rebalancing of an insurance contract where many people complain about the small print.

We see this in cases submitted to us. I dealt with one where a person was asked if their house was in good repair and answered, "Yes", although there was a small hairline crack. Some years later there was subsidence and the house had serious problems. The claim is not being paid out because the person did not mention the hairline crack in one of the rooms. Under this section, that type of practice will never be allowed again.