Under French law, some faults committed by the insured can lead to the exclusion of the insurer’s guarantee.
In the realm of non-marine insurance law, these are intentional faults and wilful misconduct.
In the context of marine insurance law, these are intentional faults and inexcusable faults.
Intentional fault consists of a deliberate act on the part of the insured to cause the damage as it occurred. The insured deliberately seeks the harmful consequences that actually occurred.
Wilful misconduct consists of a deliberate choice on the part of the insured, the effect of which is to render the occurrence of the damage inevitable.
Inexcusable fault is defined as a deliberate fault implying the awareness of the probability of the damage, and its reckless acceptance without valid reason.
Under Swiss law, the reference to fault is made in the insured’s obligation to notify the insurer or to inform the insurer about events that have occurred. There is also a reference to fraud or fraudulent act when it is about the conclusion of the contract, like misrepresentation for example.
The deliberate causation of an insured event will lead to a remedy for the insurer to deny cover under the policy. In mandatory liability insurance, the insurer cannot invoke that defence against the damaged party. There is a statutory institution that the liability insurer cannot invoke that defence of deliberate causation of the insured event.
Ansam Okbani, Lawyer-Independent Consultant (Madrid, Spain), French law. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/okbaniansam/
Cem Arikan, Partner, Klein Law (Zurich, Switzerland), Swiss law. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cem-arikan-ll-m-2465a1145/
Email: ansamokbani@outlook.com
Email: arikan@kleinlaw.ch
Comments are closed