Research On The Application Of Unfavorable Interpretation Rules Of Insurance Contract

The adverse interpretation rule is a unique special interpretation rule in the field of insurance law.Specifically,if there is a dispute over the understanding of standard terms,they should be interpreted in accordance with the usual understanding.If there are two or more interpretations of standard terms,an interpretation unfavorable to the party providing the standard terms shall be made.When there is doubt about the wording of standard clauses,the application of unfavorable interpretation rules can indeed correct the imbalance of interests between both parties when applying for insurance,play an important role in alerting and punishing the insurer,and is a benign supplement and reasonable revision of general interpretation rules.However,from the application of this rule by the judicial department in China,there are still some inaccuracies in the understanding of unfavorable interpretation rules.Some judicial staff excessively protect insurance counterparties and prioritize the application of unfavorable interpretation rules,which should have been the last resort of interpretation.They even believe that unfavorable interpretation rules should be applied as a matter of course whenever there is a dispute in the insurance contract.In view of this,the paper adopts the Case study method to study the current situation of the application of adverse interpretation rules in China,summarize the problems and causes of the application of adverse interpretation rules,and finally propose a targeted improvement path.The paper is divided into four parts.The first part mainly elaborates on the background and significance of the topic,the current research status at home and abroad,and the research methods of the paper.The legislation of unfavorable interpretation rules is incomplete,too principled and general,resulting in inaccurate application in practice.There are abundant theoretical studies at home and abroad,but few empirical studies.Therefore,Case study on adverse interpretation rules have certain value and significance.The second part is case analysis.After searching on the Peking University Treasure Judicial Case Platform,a total of 708 insurance contract dispute cases have been subject to adverse interpretation rules since October 1,2009.Represented by Henan and Shandong provinces,a total of 68 cases were selected as research objects,and the scope of application,conditions and ideas,application levels,judgment basis,and judgment results were sorted out one by one.After sorting out,it is found that the application of adverse interpretation rules is mainly in the field of automobile insurance and Critical illness insurance disputes,with obvious typology and inconsistent judgment standards.The third part points out typical problems,such as confusion in the application order,expansion of application scope,and insufficient argumentation and reasoning of unfavorable interpretation rules in practice.Due to unclear legislation and the excessive influence of the "protection of the weak" theory,judges have developed an irrational mentality of supporting the weak,making it difficult to unify the application standards of unfavorable interpretation rules.The fourth part is the path to improve the application of adverse interpretation rules in insurance.To address the issue of the application of unfavorable interpretation rules,changes should be made from both legislative and judicial levels: legislation should clarify the application level and scope of unfavorable interpretation rules,Change ’dispute’ to ’doubt’.In the judiciary,judges should focus on identifying ambiguous clauses and rationally support the weak,Apply the usual interpretation rules first,followed by the unfavorable interpretation rules,and strengthen the argumentation and reasoning of the application of unfavorable interpretation rules.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: 1.the application of adverse interpretation rules is concentrated in automobile insurance disputes and Critical illness insurance disputes,and the classification is obvious.2.There are issues in the application of unfavorable interpretation rules,such as unclear legislation,inconsistent judgment standards,erroneous prioritization of unfavorable interpretation rules,expanded scope of application,and insufficient argumentation and reasoning.3.Legislatively,it should be clear what "usual understanding" means,and "dispute" should be changed to "doubt".Special clauses should be excluded from the scope of application of unfavorable interpretation rules.4.During the trial,judges should avoid an irrational mentality of supporting the weak,correctly identify the "disputed" clauses,accurately understand the "usual understanding",and correctly grasp the order of application of unfavorable interpretation rules.Usually,the interpretation rules should prioritize the application of textual interpretation,followed by other interpretation rules in general contract interpretation rules such as purpose interpretation,overall interpretation,and historical interpretation.