Leeds et al. v. The Marine Insurance Company was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1821 that dealt with the issue of whether or not an insurance policy could be voided due to a breach of warranty on behalf of the insured party. In this particular case, Leeds had purchased an insurance policy from The Marine Insurance Company for his ship and cargo, but he failed to disclose certain information about the condition of his vessel when signing up for coverage. As such, The Marine Insurance Company argued that they should not have to pay out any claims as there had been a breach in warranty on behalf of Leeds when signing up for coverage. Ultimately, however, it was determined by the court that while there may have been some negligence on part of Leeds regarding disclosure at sign-up time, this did not necessarily void all rights under their contract and thus they were still entitled to receive payment from The Marine Insurance Company if damages occurred during transit as per their agreement.

In Leeds et al. v. The Marine Insurance Company, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract of marine insurance had been breached by the insurer when it refused to pay out on an insured vessel that had been lost at sea due to negligence and misconduct of its captain. In a 5-4 decision, the majority held that since there was no specific clause in the policy excluding losses caused by negligence or misconduct, such losses were covered under general maritime law and thus should be paid out by the insurer. However, Justice Story wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that although general maritime law did not exclude such losses from coverage, they could still be excluded if specifically stated in writing within the policy itself; as this particular policy contained no such exclusionary language he argued for reversal of judgment against The Marine Insurance Company because it would have been unjustly liable for damages resulting from negligent behavior outside its control.