An interest in property insured must exist when the insurance takes effect, and when the loss occurs, but need not exist in the meantime; an interest in the life or health of a person insured must exist when the insurance takes effect, but need not exist thereafter or when the loss occurs.
Cal. Ins. Code § 286
Insurable Interest: Generally
Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case 42 Cal. App. 3d 604 - Banerian v. O'MALLEY (1974)
Most recently applied in Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank NA (080669) (Statewide) (June 2019)
Amended by Stats. 1935, Ch. 308.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.