A Singapore High Court held that a clause in a policy that ‘due observance and fulfilment of the terms provisions and conditions of this policy insofar as they relate to anything to be done or not to be done by the insured … shall be conditions precedent to any liability to make payment’ will not
The due observance of and compliance with the terms, provisions and conditions of the policy by the insured was a condition precedent to liability by the insurer to make payment. This was an after-the-event legal costs policy where the premium was payable once the matter was finalised and the costs could be determined.
The court
The courts have reaffirmed that if suspensive conditions in an agreement are not fulfilled timeously the agreement will not be binding on the parties. This is not cured by either party performing in terms of the agreement.
Suspensive conditions and how they must be fulfilled must be precisely and carefully drafted.
Facts of the case