보험금 지급시기에 관한 영국의 2015년 보험법과 일본 보험법의 시사점

Abstract

Korean scholars have researched the phrase of “if there is not an agreed period for the payment of the insured amount, an insurer shall pay it within ten days of the determination of the insured amount payable without delay, upon receipt of notification about the occurrence of a peril insured against(Korean Commercial Act article 658)” and have doubted the appropriateness of it, but no one has studied the legal issues regarding the payment period of the insured amount when there is an agreed period for such payment. In Korean insurance practice, there generally is an agreed period for the payment of the insured amount according to Korean Supervisory Order relating to Insurance Business article 7-59(4). The English Enterprise Act 2016 introduced new section regarding the late payment of a insurance claim into the English Insurance Act 2015, The English Insurance Act 2015 article 13A sets out that the insurer’s breach of obligation to pay a claim within a reasonable time gives rise to a claim for breach of contract, which will usually mean a claim in damages. The Japanese Supreme Court invalidated the insurance clause which has provided that the insurer must pay the insured money within 30 days after the notification of a claim, provided that the insurer must pay it after the completion of the investigation when it could complete within 30 days. Japanese Insurance Act reflected such position, and provides about the late payment of a insurance claim. First of all, this paper aims at studying the late payment of a insurance claim in the English 2015 Insurance Act, and researching its impact on our marine insurance practice. In our marine insurance practice, the English governing clauses that this insurance is governed by English laws and customs, have generally been inserted. The English governing clauses purport to clarify the transactional relationship between the parties according to the laws and customs of England, which has been the center of marine insurance businesses for a long time. Korean Supreme Court have recognized its validness. The writer thinks that the payment period of the insured amount in our marine insurance practice would be settled by applying the English 2015 Insurance Act, and that an insurer could be held liable in damages for late payment of a claim differently from Korean practice according to in English law. Next, the implications to our practice about the classes of insurance except for marine insurance are as follows First, Korean some standard indemnity insurance clauses stipulate that an insurer should promptly determine the period of insured amount to pay, and must pay within Ο days from the date. The writer says that such provision is similar to Japanese earlier provision which was invalidated by Japanese Supreme Court, and that the period of insured amount to pay should be severally determined between 30 days and 60 days in consideration of the causes of the insured event. excepted perils, the amount of the loss, the causes of the termination etc. Second, in England, if the insurer has disputed the claim, the insurer is liable to burden reasonable grounds for disputing the claim. Recently, Korean insurers have disputed the claim in the special accidental suicide insurance case and immediate pension insurance case, accordingly the insureds could not receive the insured amount for a long time or even have lost it because of the limitation period. The article argues that Korean Commercial Act article 658 would be revised to reflect the English Insurance Act 2015 article 13A(4). Third, the writer says that the legal matters on the period of the insured amount to pay in the Korean Commercial Act should be amended in comparison with Japanese Insurance Act, and that they should be provided in detail by dividing into “(1) if there is an agreed period, (2) if there is not an agreed period, (3) if the insureds disturb the insurer’s investigation.”