This book is about insurance law. Insurance is a system in which, one party, the insurer, against payment of a premium, promises the other party, the insured, the service if the aleatory risk becomes a reality. Security is one of mans ancestral needs. The history of insurance is however recent, because the first shape known for the insurance is the marine insurance which was born from the development of the maritime business in the Middle Ages, with the first loan in the shipping business. It established a mixture of speculation and insurance: the lending storekeeper was entitled to no refund in case of loss of the vessel (insurance aspect). But if this one came back from a long journey, he widely participated to the benefit of the operation (speculative aspect). The marine insurance really appeared when the speculative participation in profits disappeared. In case of a loss, the storekeeper only guaranteed the loss of the value of the vessel and its load, against the preliminary payment of a certain sum. Besides, the mathematical technique on which the insurance is based began to be elaborated only in the XVIIth century.

Sabine Abravanel-Jolly is a lecturer, empowered to direct research at the University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, co-founder of a Digital Journal in insurance law, director of the Insurance Institute of Lyon. She also works at LexisNexis Insurance Code and specializes in various publications in insurance law.