Hell-or-High Water Rule Law and Legal Definition
Hell-or-high water rule refers to a legal principle obliging a lessee of a personal property to pay full rent that is due to a lessor, regardless of any claim against the lessor. Hell-or-high water rule is also applied in insurance law. It is a principle stating that an insured’s automobile-liability policy will cover the insured while using a vehicle owned by another if the insured uses the vehicle in a manner within the scope of the permission granted.[Ison v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Co., 93 Ark. App. 502 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006)]
High-Probability RuleHigh-probability rule refers to a legal principle permitting an insured to abandon a vessel. The rule is only applicable in marine insurance law. The right of abandonment does not depend upon the certainty, but upon the high probability of a total loss, either of a property, or voyage, or both. For example, in Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Globe Nav. Co., 236 F. 618 (9th Cir. Wash. 1916), the court ruled that if facts present a case of extreme hazard and if probable expense seems to exceed half the value of the ship, then the insured may abandon the vessel. The court thus held that an insured is to act not upon certainties, but upon probabilities.
