The section also makes it an offence to " cause or permit any other person " to use a motor-vehicle on the road unless there is in force, in relation to the user by that person, such a policy of insurance as complies with the Act.
12.
In Paul v . Virginia, 8 Wall . 168, the issuing of a policy of insurance was expressly held not to be a transaction of commerce, and therefore not excluded from the control of state laws, and the decision in that case is predicated upon that distinction.
13.
In 1869, the United States Supreme Court cemented state-based insurance regulation as the law of the land when it ruled in " Paul v . Virginia " that the issuance of a policy of insurance was not the transaction of commerce, and therefore beyond the scope of federal legislation.
14.
The consequence was that, with these and certain statutory exceptions ( e . g ., actions on policies of insurance ), an action on an assigned chose in action must have been brought at law in the name of the assignor, though the sum recovered belonged in equity to the assignee.
15.
The formation of an insurance contract is governed by ordinary contractual principles however, as a commercial contract, a policy of insurance should be given a businesslike interpretation " having regard to the language used by the parties, the commercial circumstances the document addresses, and the objects which it is intended to secure ."
16.
The Massachusetts statute applied not only to " ` ( a ) ny blanket or general policy of insurance . . . or any policy of accident and sickness insurance "'but also to " ` any employees'health and welfare fund which provide ( d ) hospital expense and surgical expense benefits . "'471 U . S ., at 730, n . 11.
