보험금청구권의 상실조항의 효력

Abstract

It is said that insurance is a contract uberrimae fidei. If the utmost good faith be not observed by either party, the contract may be avoided or surrendered by the other party. The duty of the insured of act with the utmost good faith is necessary on the bargain of the policy, and survives beyond the effecting of the policy. The Commercial Code has lots of provisions to prevent the moral hazard and the fraud by the assured. And many insurance policies include provisions which specifically address the problems of fraud in connection with claims.This type of provision has provided the basis for a successful defense by insurers when an insured willfully concealed information about an insured loss or submitted incorrect information in an insurance claim. But when this provision is allowed to be applied without any restriction, the resonable expectation of the assured will be infringed unfairly. Are the fraudulent claim clauses in insurance policies valid? And is necessary any interpretation to limit the scope of defences to fraudulent claims? In this article, I will explain the content and basis of the fraudulent claims clause, review and analyse some cases addressing the validity of the clause, and add some comments. I come to a conclusion : the meaning of fraud shall be defined clearly, its scope of validity shall be proportionable to the offences, and shall have the basis of justification on the statute.