Wager Policy
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
In insurance law. A policy without any real interest to support it; a policy in which the insured has no interest, being in fact nothing more than a wager or bet between the parties, whether such a voyage would be performed, or such a ship arrive safe.
3 Kent, Comm. 277, 278.
A mere hope or expectation, without some interest in the subject matter, is a wager policy.
Id. 275.
Mr. Amould defines a wager policy to be "one in which the parties, by express terms, disclaim, on the face of it, the intention of making a contract of indemnity." 1 Arnould, Ins. 276 (281, Perkins Ed.) Policies of this kind are now generally held to be illegal.
Id. 285 (289); 1 Duer, Ins. 93-95, 154, 155.