The Development of the Maltese Insurance Industry by Zammit Mark Laurence;Spiteri Jonathan;Grima Simon;

Author:Zammit, Mark Laurence;Spiteri, Jonathan;Grima, Simon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2018-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

Proposition C – European Regulations

Reference to European regulations as a theme was found once again through research by Wettinger (2002) who states that the government regulation enforced in both Sicily and Malta were installed as early as 1409 and remained in force till long after the 1530 arrival to Malta by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem.

Reference in research to surety and the argument put forward by merchants to justify a credit transaction was that an exchange transaction was not a loan (cambium non est mutuum). They described this transaction as being either a commutation of money (permutatio) or a buying and selling of foreign currency (emptio venditio).

Abela (2007) makes a reference to insurance claims in the times of the Knights of Malta with the citation of a document dated 4 February 1563, from the Notarial Archives to a petition put forward by Nob. Giacomo Bonichi against Mag. Pietro Ros and Giovanni Exatopolo.20

According to Abela (2007), the injured party, namely Bonichi, requested both Ros and Exatopolo be made to reimburse the sum of 50 scudi which was the guaranteed capital in respect of an insurance policy covering the ship of Bartolomeo Burlo as per contract enrolled in the acts of Notary Vincenzo Bonaventura de Bonetiis, on 15 October 1560.

The above litigation ensued, and the arbitrators finally arrived at their verdict on the 4 February 1563 after having each party understood one another in all that was imparted… after due consideration to all that is required to be considered as to what is owed.

…inteso la ragion de luna laltra parte in tutto quello che dir allegar volsero…considerando tutto quello che considerer si doveva… [sic.] (Abela, 2007).

Debono (1983) notes that insurance claims involved a lot of administrative work and usually litigation was resorted to in order to resolve insurance claims when accidents occurred at sea.

An example of an insurance claim and subsequent litigation was that between underwriters Lorenzo Giliberti, Marc Antonio Muscat and Leonardo Cognidi and the merchant Giuseppe Cini based on an insurance contract signed at Notary Joanne Carnisi on 7 March 1772.

Cini was to buy wine and other effects. The merchant was able to bring his ship to port, but bad weather had hit the vessel in port and the ship foundered before any merchandise was able to be offloaded. The underwriters refused to pay the losses and hence Cini instituted legal action against them. In their defence, the underwriters stated that their obligations in the insurance contract were relinquished upon the vessel berthing at the port. Since the incident in question occurred whilst already berthed, their responsibility ended there. The court finally decided that risks of the underwriters only ended after the merchandise insured was fully unloaded off the vessel.

Vassallo (1998) states in his book The Malta Chamber of Commerce 1848–1979 that prior to the eighteenth-century Malta had developed a sophisticated system of justice, finance, insurance, marketing, shipping, etc. to run its corsairing business. In the eighteenth century, it adapted this structure to dispose of the product of

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