Where an insurer is informed that insured property is unoccupied and fails to make further inquiry at the time of a subsequent renewal, the insurer waives further compliance with the duty of disclosure under s 21(2)(d) of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) in relation to the period and currency of unoccupancy. An alteration of risk clause requiring notice of a building becoming unoccupied has no application where the building was already unoccupied at the commencement of the contract. On betterment, the evidentiary onus is on the insurer to establish that payment of the cost of repair would exceed an indemnity, and where the evidence does not warrant a finding that the property after repairs would have greater value, no deduction is required.
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