So you thought you understood the legal standard for the materiality of a misrepresentation in the claims process? American Educational Institute students who have taken the "Recognizing Fraud" course will be familiar with the well-settled rule that a post-loss misrepresentation need not actually mislead the insurer in order to be material. As a federal court of appeals held in Fine v. Bellefonte Underwriters Ins. Co., 725 F2d 179 (2nd Cir. 1984), the insurer need only establish that the misrepresentation concerned something that, at the time, was "relevant and germane to the insurer's investigation as it was then proceeding."