§ [No. 18]
§ Clause 11, page 11, line 9, after "not" insert "a contract of insurance or".
§ THE EARL OF LIMERICKMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 18. The voiding of contracts for an uncertain amount by Clause 11 has been criticised as being too general in its terms and too dependent for its precise effect upon exemption by regulations. It has been pointed out that a number of kinds of insurance contract fall within the description in the clause.
The kind of transaction to be made void by the clause is not, of course, intended to include a genuine insurance contract. It is the isolated guarantee of some other company's or person's obligations, some forms of which might be difficult to distinguish from an insurance contract. On further consideration, therefore, we concluded that the purpose of the clause would be substantially met if insurance contracts were specifically excluded. This does not eliminate the need for exempting regulations, but it will considerably reduce the list.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(The Earl of Limerick.)