Act of God

This article is about the legal term. For the religious concept, see divine intervention. For other uses, see Act of God (disambiguation).

This tornado damage to an Illinois home could be considered an "act of God" for insurance purposes in the United States, if the insurance policy did not specifically account for tornadoes.[1]
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In legal usage in the English-speaking world, an act of God, act of nature, or damnum fatale ("loss arising from inevitable accident") is an event caused by no direct human action (e.g. severe or extreme weather and other natural disasters) for which individual persons are not responsible and cannot be held legally liable for loss of life, injury, or property damage.[2][3][4][5] An act of God may amount to an exception to liability in contracts (as under the Hague–Visby Rules),[6] or it may be an "insured peril" in an insurance policy.[7] In Scots law, the equivalent term is damnum fatale,[8] while most Common law proper legal systems use the term act of God.[9]

It is legally distinct from—though often related to—a common clause found in contract law known as force majeure.[10] In light of the scientific consensus on climate change, its modern applicability has been questioned by legal scholars.[11]

  1. ^ "Insurance: What exactly constitutes an "Act of God"?". CBS News. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Definition of DAMNUM FATALE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  3. ^ "act of God". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  4. ^ "act of God". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  5. ^ "act of nature". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  6. ^ Art. IV (2) "Neither the carrier nor the ship shall be responsible for loss or damage arising or resulting from: ... (d) Act of God"
  7. ^ Marine Insurance Act 1906 – Rules for construction of policy
  8. ^ Bryan A. Garner (2001). A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. Oxford University Press. p. 918. ISBN 978-0-19-514236-5.
  9. ^ Black, Henry Campbell (1990). Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.). Saint Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co. p. 33. ISBN 0-314-76271-X.
  10. ^ LII / Legal Information Institute. “Force Majeure.” Retrieved January 21, 2024. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/force_majeure.
  11. ^ Dellinger, Myanna (2016). "An 'Act of God'? Rethinking Contractual Impracticability in an Era of Anthropogenic Climate Change". Hastings Law Journal. 67 (6). University of California, Hastings College of the Law: 1551–1620. Retrieved 6 June 2024.