General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3024 |
| Course name: | Insurance Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Commercial, corporate and financial law |
| Pre-requisite | Contract Law |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
While insurance law is significant in its own right it also plays a critical role in the development of other branches of the law. Insurance contracts obviously underpin commercial transactions, particularly contracts for goods and services (including consumer contracts) and international trade. Insurance law also pervades the policy issues not always openly avowed in the reasoning of the courts when deciding negligence cases and claims for breach of statutory duty. At its root, insurance is the means by which a party, the insured, shifts the risk of suffering a loss (for example, property, life, credit or potential liability) to another party, the insurer. As a specialist area of the law of contract, there is a rich body of case law together with a range of statutory interventions.
This course covers the following subjects: The Nature of Insurance; Insurable Interest and Third Parties; Utmost Good Faith; Insurance Terms; Losses and Claims; The Rights of Insurers; Insurance Intermediaries; Liability Insurance; Reinsurance; Marine Insurance; and Chinese Insurance Law.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Gary Meggitt | garym@hku.hk | CCT 907 | Request an appointment in advance by email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Develop an awareness and understanding of insurance law to include distinguishing features and characteristics of an insurance contract.
CLO 2 Recognise, understand and apply the legal duties owed by each party to an insurance contract.
CLO 3 Appreciate the roles of brokers and insurance agents within the insurance market.
CLO 4 Appreciate the different classes of insurance and range of wordings available.
2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary (Three house open book unseen examination)
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Research essay | 25 Apr 2025 | 40% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| In-class assessment | 9 May 2025 | 40% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
One 2 hour, 30 minute in-class assessment; one 2,500 word research essay.
Note: Unless otherwise indicated by the course teacher, if a candidate submits an item of assessable coursework after the required completion date, the examiner(s) shall award a grade for such coursework but subject to the imposition of a penalty (unless late submission was due to illness or other acceptable reason), which penalty shall involve the immediate deduction of 3 per cent of the full grade of the coursework for failing to submit by the required completion date and time and the deduction of a further 3 per cent of the full grade of the coursework for every additional day later thereafter.
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar | 3 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
Seminar questions will be distributed via Moodle
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/