The Research On The Effectiveness Of Exemption Clauses In Insurance Contract

The article 17 in our Insurance Law regulates the exemption clauses which exempt the responsibilities of the insurer.Scholars and professionals have different opinions on the definition of exemption clauses.Although there is intense argument in the definition of exemption clauses,exemption clauses should be the clauses which substantially relieve or exempt the responsibilities of the insurer.Exemption clauses have various manifestation,such as exclusion clauses,disclaimers and so on.But the clauses that the insurer can terminate the insurance contract,don’t belong to the exemption clause.The reason why the insurance law regulate this is that,the insurer can terminate the insurance contract based on the breach of insurance contract of the insured.So the exemption clauses don’t include the termination clauses.Exemption clauses as a sort of standard form clauses are always criticized by academia,because exemption clauses relieve or exempt the responsibilities of the insurer.But exemption clauses have rationality for the existence.In the insurance contract the insurer and the insured don’t keep balance in the information.When they conclude a insurance contract,the insured know the subject matter better than the insurer, to the contrary the insurer know the contract clauses better which are protocolled by the insurer.This is why the exemption clauses exist.What’s more,for the operation management of the insurance company and the trade fairness,the exemption clauses is essential in a insurance contract. The exemption clauses as the important part of insurance contract must be notified and specifically explained if the insurer want the exemption clauses to have effectiveness.The notification is an independent obligation,the insurer must separate the exemption clauses from the other contract clauses with certain ways and make the insured notice the exemption clauses easily.The specific explanation obligation is coordinate with the notification obligation.The insurer must explain the exemption clauses specifically to make the insured understand the true meaning and legal consequences of the exemption clauses.The notification obligation and specific explanation obligation are not absolute obligations.They can be relieved and exempted in some certain circumstances.Although these obligations can be relieved and exempted,the insurer must performance these obligations appropriately if they want the exemption clauses become the content of the insurance contract.Otherwise the exemption clauses are inefficient.The exemption clauses becoming the part of insurance contract does not mean the exemption clauses are valid clauses.The exemption clauses must conform to legality and rationality criterion.On the one hand,the legality criterion means the exemption clauses must conform to the compulsory regulations and the legal principles, on the other hand,the rationality criterion means the exemption clauses must conform to good faith,the fairness and reasonable expectation and so on.Based on the effectiveness evaluation criterion, the exemption clauses can be divided into valid exemption clauses and invalid exemption clauses.The exemption clauses are valid on the basis of the contract validity.The invalid exemption clauses focus on the circumstances in the article 19 of our Insurance Law.When the judge evaluate the invalidity of the exemption clauses,the evaluation criterion and the regulation of article must be combined.