§ 1.2 Binders

• Library: Guide to South Carolina Liability and Property Insurance Law (SCBar) (2019 Ed.)

§ 1.2 Binders

"A binder is a temporary contract for insurance, the terms of which determine[] the amount and type of coverage extended until the application is either accepted or denied."² Where there is no element of fraud or bad faith and an agent is authorized to countersign and deliver a policy to the insured, the binder and the policy is deemed to be a single contract.³ Until the policy is issued, the application, binder, and the accompanying endorsement constitute the terms of the insurance contract.⁴ The South Carolina Supreme Court has explained:

"Binder" issued by the agent bound him alone, so long as it was not consummated by the execution and issuance and delivery of the policy....But once the policy has been issued, it is a mere matter of applying elementary principles in the field of the law of contracts to hold that the "binder" and the policy merged, and that the merged contract embraces all of the contractual stipulations of the parties, including the undertaking of the agent that the insurance shall be deemed to be

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