All statements, declarations and descriptions in any application for an insurance policy or for the reinstatement of an insurance policy shall be deemed representations and not warranties. No statement in an application or in any affidavit made before or after loss under the policy shall bar a recovery upon a policy of insurance unless it is clearly proved that such answer or statement was material to the risk when assumed and was untrue.
Va. Code Ann. § 38.2-309
When answers or statements of applicant do not bar recovery on policy
Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case 826 F. Supp. 155 - St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Jacobson (1993)
Most recently applied in Medical Mutual Ins. Co. of North Carolina v. Cathy Gnik (February 2024)
Code 1950, § 38-7; 1952, c. 317, § 38.1-336; 1986, c. 562.
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: Virginia Law Portal (LIS). Reproduced from public-domain Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.