It is OK to tell a "collateral" lie on an insurance claim, the Supreme Court has ruled, in a judgement that could affect millions of household policies.
A collateral lie is one which is untrue, but does not affect the overall validity of the claim. The judges voted by four to one to change one of the important principles behind current insurance law. The precise case involved a Dutch cargo ship, which ran into difficulty after its engine room was flooded. The crew deliberately lied, by saying they couldn't investigate an alarm, because the ship was rolling in heavy seas. In fact the accident was caused by bad weather, so the lie was irrelevant, it was ruled. The judge in the original court case said the lie amounted to a "fraudulent device", which invalidated the claim. The Court of Appeal upheld that judgement, but the Supreme Court has now overturned it.....Source HERE