The duties of the insured and insurer to disclose all material facts at contract formation/pre-contract stage or renewal stage, held, include the duty of the insurer or its agent to notify the insured of any material change(s) in the policy terms at the pre-contract or renewal stage. Thus, held, insurer cannot contend that the insured were under an obligation to enquire into and satisfy themselves in respect thereof, if a new term/modified term had been introduced in the policy at the renewal stage. This duty of the insurer to disclose material terms/new or altered terms at the pre-contract or renewal stage, is all the more onerous where insurance policies are in standard form and consumers hardly have any choice in the matter or any power to negotiate alteration of the terms of the policy.
[Jacob Punnen v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2022) 3 SCC 655]