Category: Insurance case law · Reviewed by Amy Price, Account Executive · Last reviewed June 2026
Marine insurance decision on the materiality of unrecorded prior losses and the obligation of the assured to make a fair presentation of the risk to underwriters at placement.
The case concerned a hull and machinery policy on the motor yacht Elena G, owned by interests connected with the claimant Decorum Investments Ltd. The policy was placed in the London market through brokers and incepted on the customary marine wording. During the currency of the policy the vessel suffered a loss which the assured claimed under the policy.
The underwriters declined the claim and sought to avoid the policy on the ground of pre-contractual non-disclosure and misrepresentation. The matters which the underwriters relied upon included aspects of the vessel’s prior loss history, certain features of the management and crewing of the vessel, and the financial circumstances of the assured and its principal which were said to be relevant to moral hazard. [verify citation]
The placing submission as presented to the leading underwriter was said by the underwriters not to have made a fair presentation of the risk. The brokers’ file and the underwriter’s contemporaneous notes were the principal documentary evidence as to what had been presented and what had been understood.
At trial in the Commercial Court the judge was required to determine the content of the placing presentation, the materiality of the matters not disclosed, and whether the underwriter had been induced to write the risk on the terms agreed. The case is one of a number of marine yacht decisions of the early 2000s which apply the Pan Atlantic test to the kind of bespoke high-value risks which characterise that segment of the market.
The principal issues were factual and evaluative. First, what had in fact been presented to the underwriters at placement, in writing and orally? Second, were the matters not disclosed material in the Pan Atlantic sense — that is, would they have influenced the judgement of a prudent underwriter in deciding whether to write the risk and on what terms? Third, had the actual underwriter on risk been induced by the presentation as made to enter into the contract on the terms agreed?
A subsidiary issue concerned the role of the broker as the principal channel of communication between the assured and the underwriter, and the extent to which the assured’s duty of disclosure can be regarded as discharged by what the broker has chosen to include in the slip.
The Commercial Court held in favour of the underwriters. On the evidence, the placing presentation had failed to disclose matters which a prudent underwriter would have wished to take into account, including elements of the loss history and certain features of the management of the vessel. [verify citation] Those matters were material in the Pan Atlantic sense and had induced the underwriter on risk to write the policy on the terms agreed. Avoidance was upheld and the claim failed.
The judge took the opportunity to emphasise that the test is one of fair presentation: a presentation which conveys a misleading overall impression of the risk does not discharge the duty of disclosure even if no individual statement in the slip is strictly inaccurate. The duty rests on the assured, even where the placing is effected through brokers, and is owed to the underwriter as the party who has to assess the risk and decide whether and on what terms to write it.
The case is treated in commentary as an illustration of the application of established principles to a marine yacht risk and is cited principally on the materiality of prior losses and on moral hazard. [verify citation]
The duty of disclosure owed by an assured to a marine underwriter at placement is a duty of fair presentation. It is breached where the presentation, taken as a whole, conveys a misleading impression of the risk, whether by inaccurate positive statements or by omission of material circumstances. Materiality is judged by reference to the prudent underwriter; inducement is judged by reference to the actual underwriter on risk.
The duty rests on the assured notwithstanding the involvement of brokers. The assured cannot rely on a placing slip which omits material matters merely because the broker prepared it.
Decorum Investments v Atkin is one of a body of early-2000s marine and specialty market cases which applied the Pan Atlantic test in the years before the reform of the law by the Insurance Act 2015. It is cited in the textbooks for the proposition that fair presentation requires more than literal accuracy of individual statements in the slip and for the materiality of prior losses and moral hazard considerations in marine hull insurance.
The case has been substantially overtaken by the codified duty of fair presentation in section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015. That duty now requires disclosure either of every material circumstance which the insured knows or ought to know, or alternatively of sufficient information to put a prudent insurer on notice that further enquiries are required. The presentation must be made in a manner which would be reasonably clear and accessible to a prudent insurer. The pre-Act common law on what amounts to a fair presentation, including Decorum Investments, continues to inform the interpretation of the statutory standard.
For brokers, the case remains a reminder that the slip is a vehicle for fair presentation and that abbreviation of information for market convenience is fraught with risk where it strips out matters which an underwriter would wish to consider.
By Matt Bartlett, Director, on 2026-06-06. Next review: 2026-12-06.
This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed by Matt Bartlett on 2026-06-06. Apex Insurance Brokers Limited, FCA FRN 724952, Companies House 07014570. Not regulated advice — consult your broker on your specific position.
SEO meta: - Title: Decorum Investments v Atkin (The Elena G) | UK Insurance Wiki | Apex Insurance Brokers - Slug: /wiki/cases/decorum-investments-v-atkin/ - Schema: Article + LegalCase + BreadcrumbList
Apex Insurance Brokers serves UK professional services firms and commercial businesses. Call 0117 325 0027, email hello@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or request a quotation.
Get a quote