Section 4.21 Valued Policy Statutes

• Library: Insurance Practice 2015

The purpose of Missouri’s valued policy statutes is to prevent insurance companies from taking reckless risks to obtain large premiums by holding insurers to the value agreed on when the policy was issued and to place on insurers the burden and responsibility to determine the value of the property insured on the date the policy is issued. Gamel v. Cont’l Ins. Co., 463 S.W.2d 590, 593 (Mo. App. E.D. 1971); Lumbermens Mut. Ins. Co. v. Edmister, 412 F.2d 351 (8^th Cir. 1969). To encourage companies to investigate the value of property when coverage is purchased, the valued policy statutes prevent the insurer from questioning the valuation stated in the insurance policy after a...