The subject matter of insurance may be any property of intrinsic value or any event the happening of which will cause the loss of a legal right or the creation of a legal liability. Thus, in fire insurance, the subject matter may be a house or a factory; in accident insurance, one’s eye or limbs or one’s liability for bodily injuries to, or damage to the property of a third party and in marine insurance a ship, its cargo, the freight at risk or the ship owner’s liability to third parties. Insurance is operative not in respect of the subject matter itself but in respect of the interest of the insured in the event or property concerned and it is this interest which is the subject matter of the contract. It is the pecuniary interest of the insured in the property exposed to peril that is really insured. Therefore, while the subject matter of insurance may be property life or liability the subject matter of contract is the insurable interest therein.