생명보험약관상 심신상실상태의 자살면책에 관한 연구(대법원 2021. 2. 4 선고 2017다281367 판결을 중심으로)

Abstract

The Korean life insurance standard policy stipulates that a life insurance company is not required to pay insurance money in the case where an insured commits accidents intentionally for example, suicide. But, there is an exception to the above where an insured commits suicide status that ‘the insured can not be a free decision-making, such as loss of physical and mental resulting from his mental illness. Because accidents caused by mental illness include the inability to clearly perceive the possible consequence of a situation, meaning that mental illness is the cause intervening free decision-making, and therefore, that it has not been intentional. Suicide intentionally causes one's own death, and it is a principle of our commercial law that insurance money is not paid for an intentional accident. However, if suicide is a state of mental or physical loss in which one's own free will is excluded, or if a mental illness is made in this state, the policy stipulates that the insurance money will be paid as it is deemed not intentional because there is no perception that the person is harming himself for the sole purpose of obtaining insurance money. Therefore, in the case of a suicide accident, the claimant tries to prove the state of mental illness or mental or physical loss in order to obtain insurance money. However, the concept of mental illness or loss of mind, from which free decision-making is excluded, is ambiguous, and a number of cases are emerging to determine it. In the Supreme Court’s decision 2017da281367 case, the suicide of an elementary school teacher was made in a state of mental illness that made it impossible to recognize his own death due to a combination of major depression, skin disease, and liver disease. In this regard, the suicide of an elementary school teacher occurred in a state of mental illness that made it impossible to recognize his death due to a combination of major depression, skin disease, and liver disease. Therefore, it was reasonable for the insurer to pay the insurance money.