330 Concealment defined

Neglect to communicate that which a party knows, and ought to communicate, is concealment.

331 Effect of concealment

Concealment, whether intentional or unintentional, entitles the injured party to rescind insurance.

332 Required disclosure

Each party to a contract of insurance shall communicate to the other, in good faith, all facts within his knowledge which are or which he believes to be material to the contract and as to which he makes no warranty, and which the other has not the means of ascertaining.

333 Required inquiry

Neither party to a contract of insurance is bound to communicate information of the matters following, except in answer to the inquiries of the other:

1. Those which the other knows.

2. Those which, in the exercise of ordinary care, the other ought to know, and of which the party has no reason to suppose him ignorant.

3. Those of which the other waives communication.

4. Those which prove or tend to prove the existence of a risk excluded by a warranty, and which are not otherwise material.

5. Those which relate to a risk excepted from insurance, and which are not otherwise material.

334 Materiality

Materiality is to be determined not by the event, but solely by the probable and reasonable influence of the facts upon the party to whom the communication is due, in forming his estimate of the disadvantages of the proposed contract, or in making his inquiries.

335 Presumed knowledge

Each party to a contract of insurance is bound to know:

(a) All the general causes which are open to his inquiry equally with that of the other, and which may affect either the political or material perils contemplated.

(b) All the general usages of trade.

336 Waiver

The right to information of material facts may be waived, either (a) by the terms of insurance or (b) by neglect to make inquiries as to such facts, where they are distinctly implied in other facts of which information is communicated.

337 Interest of insured

Information of the nature or amount of the interest of one insured need not be communicated unless in answer to an inquiry, except as prescribed by section 381, or by the provisions of the insurance contract if such provisions are prescribed by this code as part of a standard form.

338 Warranty falsity; intentional or fraudulent concealment

An intentional and fraudulent omission, on the part of one insured, to communicate information of matters proving or tending to prove the falsity of a warranty, entitles the insurer to rescind..

339 Opinion

Neither party to a contract of insurance is bound to communicate, even upon inquiry, information of his own judgment upon the matters in question.

350 Oral or written representations

A representation may be oral or written.

351 Time of making

A representation may be made at the time of, or before, issuance of the policy.

352 Rules of interpretation

The language of a representation is to be interpreted by the same rules as contracts in general.

353 Representation as to future

A representation as to the future is a promise, unless it is merely a statement of a belief or an expectation.

354 Representation’s effect upon policy

A representation cannot qualify an express provision in a contract of insurance; but it may qualify an implied warranty.

355 Alteration; withdrawal

A representation may be altered or withdrawn before the insurance is effected, but not afterwards.

356 Time of reference

The completion of the contract of insurance is the time to which a representation must be presumed to refer.

357 Representation upon hearsay

When an insured has no personal knowledge of a fact, he may nevertheless repeat information which he has upon the subject, and which he believes to be true, with the explanation that he does so on the information of others; or he may submit the information, in its whole extent, to the insurer. In neither case is he responsible for its truth, unless it proceeds from an agent of the insured, whose duty it is to give the information.

358 Falsity

A representation is false when the facts fail to correspond with its assertions or stipulations.

359 Material false representations; effect

If a representation is false in a material point, whether affirmative or promissory, the injured party is entitled to rescind the contract from the time the representation becomes false.

360 Materiality

The materiality of a representation is determined by the same rule as the materiality of a concealment.

361 Application of chapter

The provisions of this chapter apply as well to a modification of a contract of insurance as to its original formation.