Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Inchmaree clause

(often cap.) Maritime law. An insurance-policy provision that protects against risks not caused by nature, such as a sailor's negligence or a latent defect in machinery. 0 This term is taken from a British ship, the Inchmaree, whose sinking in 1884 gave rise to litigation that led to the clause bearing its name."The most celebrated decision of recent times under the 'general' clause was doubtless Thames & Mersey Marine Ins. Co. v. Hamilton, Fraser & Co., 12 App.Cas. 484 (1887). A pump, insured as part of the machinery of a vessel, clogged through valve failure and was damaged. The House of Lords held this accident arose neither through a 'peril of the sea' nor through a cause ejusdem generis with the enumerated perils .... This was a disquieting decision, for it more than suggested that many costly accidents that might be suffered by the expensive