The correct answer is C — pay the claims. Insurance contracts traditionally incorporate the doctrine of utmost good faith, sometimes expressed by the Latin term uberrimae fidei. The insurance transaction depends heavily on truthful and complete disclosure because the applicant possesses material information concerning the risk, while the insured depends upon the insurer to perform its contractual obligations when an insured loss occurs.
The Series 17-70 official outline expressly identifies utmost good faith, representations, misrepresentations, warranties, concealment, fraud, waiver, and estoppel as legal concepts affecting insurance contracts.
The applicant's obligation is therefore to make truthful representations concerning matters material to underwriting and coverage. Correspondingly, after a covered loss and satisfaction of applicable policy conditions, the insurer must honor its contractual promise to indemnify or otherwise provide the benefits specified by the policy.
Option A is incomplete because simply issuing a policy does not capture the insurer's principal performance obligation after coverage attaches. Filing regulatory reports is a statutory or administrative responsibility and is not the reciprocal contractual promise on which the insured relies. Charging a fair premium is also not the defining reciprocal duty in the doctrine being tested.
Accordingly, the insured relies on the insurer's promise to pay valid covered claims according to the contract, making C correct.
