Research On Judgment Criteria Of Significant Increase In Risk Degree Of Insurance Subject

Insurance law of the People’s Republic of China(hereinafter referred to as “insurance law”)was formally promulgated in 1995,but did not make corresponding provisions on the increase of the risk of the subject matter of insurance after the establishment of the insurance contract.Until the first amendment of the Insurance Law in 2002,the obligation to notify the increased risk of the subject matter of insurance was first stipulated in Article37.In 2009,after the second amendment,the Insurance Law added the word "significant" to the phrase "increased risk",which constituted a "significant increase in risk",emphasizing the seriousness and substance of the increase in risk.This is an attempt to restrict the insurer’s easy refusal of compensation and to strengthen the protection of the insured or the insured.Article 4 of Judicial interpretation of insurance law IV,which came into effect on September 1,2018,clarifies the factors that can be taken into account by the court in determining whether the subject matter of insurance constitutes a "significant increase in the degree of risk",and the circumstances that do not constitute a "significant increase in the degree of risk".However,there is still no clear concept of the significant increase in the risk degree of the subject matter of insurance,and what’s more,there is no clear and externalized criterion for judging.After problems arise in judicial practice,judges have different expressions in conjunction with discretion.Judicial documents that specify specific criteria for judgment are countless,and more documents are vague expressions.So far,it is not clear that the risk degree of the insurance subject matter has increased significantly,which brings challenges to the practical circles in solving practical problems.Based on the theory of foreign insurance law and judicial practice,this paper begins with the related basic concepts of "significant increase in risk degree",explains the necessity of establishing a judgment standard that the risk degree of the subject matter of insurance significantly increases,and clarifies that the risk degree of the subject matter of insurance significantly increases the scope of application of the judgment standard.Then through the empirical analysis of the insurance company contract clauses and the people’s court judgment documents in judicial practice,the judicial judgment standard of the significant increase in the risk degree of the subject matter of insurance is clarified.Drawing lessons from the judicial practice of our country and the excellent achievements of Taiwan and other countries,we establish three objective criteria,namely,saliency,sustainability and unpredictability,that the risk of the subject matter of insurance increasessignificantly enough to affect the subjective criteria for the insurer to decide whether to accept or increase the premium.In order to provide specific,explicit and externalized judgment criteria for judicial practice,maximize the implementation of the principle of balance of consideration,maintain transaction stability and trust interests,and balance the interests between the insurer and the insured or the insured.