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9 Anglo-Am. L. Rev. 331 (1980)
Gambling by Insurance - A Study of the Life Assurance Act 1774

handle is hein.journals/comlwr9 and id is 341 raw text is: ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW REVIEW GAMBLING BY INSURANCE - A STUDY OF THE LIFE ASSURANCE ACT 1774. By R. MERKIN. * It has been about 250 years since English law for the first time formally recognized by the Marine Insurance Act, 1746 that the taking out of insurance not supported by interest was a practice fraught with danger, a recognition extended from marine to other insurances' by the Life Assurance Act 1774. It is the purpose of this paper to evaluate the impact of the 1774 Act on the evils which it was intended to counter and to make some suggestions for reforming and rationalizing the present law.2 The natural starting point is to examine why the Act was in fact passed. 1 - The Need for Insurable Interest (1) The Reasons For Requiring Insurable Interest. The paramount purpose of the 1774 act was to stamp out gambling hidden by a notional insurance. There were three factors behind this. In the first place there was a growing objection in this period to gambling in all its forms because of the social consequences that it inevitably produced. Blackstone expressed • LLB., LLM., Lecturer in Law, University of Lancaster 1. The exceptions in s.4 are for ships, goods or merchandises. These were covered by the Marine Insurance Act 1746. 2. The problems caused by the application of the 1774 Act to non-life policies are largely outside the scope of this paper, although see below under the discussion of s.2. For a detailed discussion of the precise insurances covered by the Act and the ensuing difficulties see MacGillivray and Parkington on Insurance Law, 6th Ed. (henceforward M. & P.) paras. 144-145; Ivamy, Fire and Motor Insurance, 3rd Ed. pp.175-181.

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