Concealment of truth. 2. In general a suppression of the truth, when a party is bound to disclose it, vitiates a contract. In the contract of insurance a knowledge of the facts is required to enable the underwriter to calculate the chances and form a due estimate of the risk; and, in this contract perhaps more than any other, the parties are required to represent every thing with fairness.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
Lat. Suppression or concealment of the truth. “It is a rule of equity, as well as of law, that a suppressio veri is equivalent to a suggestio falsi; and where either the suppression of the truth or the suggestion of what is false can be proved, in a fact material to the contract the party injured may have relief against the contract” Fleming v. Slocum, 18 Johns. (N. Y.) 405, 9 Am. Dec 224. Suppressio veri, expresslo falsi. Suppression of the truth is [equivalent to] the expression of what is false. Addington v. Allen, 11 Wend. (N. Y.) 374, 417. Suppressio veri, suggestio falsi. Suppression of the truth is [equivalent to] the suggestion of what is false.