Shallow Theory Of Third Party Benefit Protection Of Insurance In Our Country

This essay mainly discusses about the issue of protection of the third party underthe system of compulsory traffic accident liability insurance for motor vehicles(“compulsory traffic accident liability insurance for motor vehicles” hereinafter isreferred to as “compulsory liability insurance”) in China. As a special type of liabilityinsurance, compulsory liability insurance has all the characteristics of liability insuranceas follows: the subject matter insured is the legal compensation liability; the maximumcompensation is clearly specified; the insurance indemnity is substitutive; and the majorpurpose is to remedy the third party. In addition, compared with the general liabilityinsurance, compulsory liability insurance has its own characteristics as follows: thefoundation of validity of the liability insurance is compulsory; the principle of liabilitywithout fault shall apply to the compensation; the liability limitation is the same amountall over the country; and it has the function to help the injured third party.When the insured motor vehicle incurs a traffic accident, the compulsory liabilityinsurance shall compensate the personal injury or property loss of the victims exclusiveof the staff on the motor vehicle and the insured. As a result, the third party under thesystem of compulsory liability insurance in China is limited to the victims exclusive ofthe staff on the motor vehicle and the insured. Compared with the legislation of othercountries or areas concerning the system of compulsory liability insurance for motorvehicles, there are several problems in the protection of the third party under China’scurrent system of compulsory liability insurance. The main problems are as follows: thescope of the third party is fairly narrow; the third party is not entitled to the right todirectly claim against the insurer without any pre-conditions; and the relief fund has notplayed well.With respect to the above three problems, the author proposes two suggestions toimprove the protection of the third party under the system of compulsory liabilityinsurance in China as follows: firstly, endow the third party with the right of directclaim without any pre-conditions. In the event that the accident motor vehicle has beeneffected with the compulsory liability insurance, the third party gets personal injury orproperty loss in the traffic accident and there are no liability exemptions, the third party shall have the right to directly claim against the insurer for compensation. Secondly,improve the operation system of the relief fund of traffic accident. This suggestionincludes to expand the sources of the relief fund, to specify the payment in advanceprocedures of the relief fund and to improve the recourse system of the relief fund.When proposing the above two suggestions, the author also discusses and analyzesrelevant issues as follows: firstly, in respect of enlarging the scope of the third party, theauthor holds that the third party shall not include the staff on the motor vehicle and theinsured who is under some special circumstances. Secondly, as for whether the thirdparty under the liability insurance shall be entitled to the right of direct claim, the authoris in favor of the “positive says” because of the following three reasons: the interventionof law lays the theoretical foundation of the direct claim right of the third party underthe liability insurance, the insurer’s early and direct participation in the proceedinglodged by the victim against the insured is the factual basis of the direct claim right ofthe third party, and to endow the third party with the direct claim right will help toimprove the whole social efficiency and reduce the social cost. Thirdly, with respect tothe function of the relief fund, the author is of the opinion that the relief fund is anecessary auxiliary system to the system of compulsory liability insurance. Thus, therelief fund shall not bear the same function as that of the system of compulsory liabilityinsurance.