With the continuous development and changes of social life, the property form and property form of the person subject to execution are becoming increasingly complex, and the execution work of the people's courts is constantly facing new challenges. There are many cases where the person subject to execution purchases life insurance products for himself or his family members. When the person subject to execution has no other property available for execution, the people's court should standardize the execution of the cash value of the life insurance policy, follow the principle of execution proportion and the principle of good faith in execution, and fully protect the relevant rights and interests of the parties and the policy interested parties.
1. Three main issues in the execution of the policy cash value
1. Does the court have the right to forcefully terminate the contract and deduct the cash value of the policy? From a legal perspective, enforcing the cash value of the life insurance policy of the person subject to execution is to terminate the insurance contract signed by the person subject to execution (the insured) and the insurance company (the insurer) in advance. The insurance company will hand over the cash value of the policy to the court for execution based on the early refund and deduct the corresponding liability premiums, handling fees, etc. According to the provisions of the Insurance Law, the insured may unilaterally terminate the insurance contract and withdraw the cash value of the insurance policy. However, the insurance contract is still in existence, can the court forcefully terminate it?
affirmative opinion holds that the court has the right to forcefully terminate the contract and deduct the cash value of the insurance policy. For example, the "Notice on Strengthening and Regulating the Execution of Property and Benefits of Personal Insurance Products Owned by the Higher People's Court of Zhejiang Province" stipulates that the insured's purchase of traditional, dividend and other personal insurance products belongs to the insured's property rights. The property rights are responsible property and may be enforced by the people's court. If the person subject to execution is missing or refuses to sign an application for reimbursement, the execution court may issue an execution ruling or a notice of assistance to the insurance agency to ask for assistance in deduction of insurance products and obtain property benefits after reimbursement, and the insurance agency has the obligation to assist.
Negative opinion holds that the court can deduct the cash value of the policy only when the person subject to execution terminates the insurance contract. For example, the "Answer Opinions on Difficult Issues in Application of Laws in Execution Cases" issued by the Guangdong Higher People's Court pointed out that a personal insurance contract is related to the life rights and interests of the insured, so the policyholder's withdrawal of insurance is regarded as a prerequisite for execution to avoid damage to the insured's personal legal relationship. The Beijing Higher People's Court also issued a document stating that the people's court may freeze and dispose of the rights and interests enjoyed by the person subject to execution based on the insurance contract for the commercial insurance invested by the person subject to execution, but shall not forcefully terminate the legal relationship of the insurance contract.
2. Should the opinions of the interested parties be considered when the altruistic contract is forced to be terminated? The parties to the insurance contract are direct participants in the conclusion of the insurance contract, including the insurer and the policyholder. However, life insurance contracts have special characteristics, which can be altruistic contracts, that is, in addition to the insured and the insured, there are also insured or beneficiaries (often inconsistent with the insured). These entities are generally called insurance contract parties. Therefore, there are different opinions on whether the insurance contract needs to be approved by the insurance contract when the insurance contract is terminated.
One opinion holds that termination should be carried out simply because the parties to the insurance contract are only the insured and the insurer. Whether the termination of the contract is statutory or negotiated termination, it is only between the parties to the contract. The insurance contract party cannot prevent or fight against the parties to the contract to exercise the right to terminate the contract. Therefore, when the personal insurance contract is forced to be terminated, there is no need to obtain the opinions of the contractual party. Otherwise, if the insured and beneficiary disagree, the execution will not be possible.
Another opinion holds that the opinions of the contract person should be consulted. The compulsory termination of life insurance contracts has a great impact on the insured and beneficiaries. In combination with the relevant provisions of the relevant judicial interpretations of the Insurance Law on the right of intervention by insured and beneficiaries, it is believed that the opinions of the insured and beneficiaries should be consulted before the compulsory termination, otherwise the execution will infringe on the rights and interests of the non-case persons.For example, the "Notice on Strengthening and Standardizing the Execution of Property Rights and Interests of Personal Insurance Products Owned by the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province" points out that if the insured is the person subject to execution and the insured is inconsistent with the insured or beneficiary, the people's court shall notify the insured or beneficiary after deducting the insurance product and obtaining property benefits after the insurance product is withdrawn. If the insured and beneficiary agree to assume the contract status of the insured, maintain the validity of the insurance contract, and deliver to the people's court a substitute performance equivalent to the cash value of the policy after the insurance surrender, the people's court shall not execute the cash value of the policy again.
3.Whether to distinguish the policy object when enforcing the cash value of the insurance policy? According to relevant provisions of the Insurance Law, personal insurance is an insurance that takes human life and body as the insurance object. According to insurance liability, it can be divided into life insurance, personal accident insurance, health insurance, etc. There are different opinions on whether there should be differences in the cash value of the insurance policy when executing it.
One opinion believes that there is no need to distinguish. As long as it is property that can be executed in the name of the person subject to execution, it should be enforced without considering the actual value of the execution object. Moreover, the value is relatively small compared to the subject matter of the execution case. Although the refund amount is small, if the subject matter itself is small, it will also be conducive to the execution of the case.
has other opinions that there should be some distinction. Generally speaking, the cash value of insurance for personal accident insurance, health insurance and other insurances is low, but it is highly protected for the insured and beneficiary and is not suitable for compulsory enforcement; while insurance for life insurance, savings dividends and other insurances can be enforced.
2. Related analysis of policy cash value execution issues
1. The court may enforce the policy cash value. The author believes that the court can forcefully terminate the personal insurance contract between the person subject to execution (the insured) and the insurer, thereby enforcing the cash value of the policy.
First of all, the cash value of the insurance policy is the responsible property of the person subject to execution. Life insurance itself is saving and valuable, which is reflected in the fact that the insured can withdraw the cash value of the insurance policy by termination of the insurance contract. In addition, according to the "Management Measures for the Pledge Loan for Personal Insurance Companies (Draft for Comments)" of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, policies can be pledged to loans, pledged by the cash value of the policy held by the insured, and short-term financial support can be provided to the insured. It also proves from the side that the cash value of the policy is liquid and valuable, and can be enforced as the responsible property of the person subject to execution.
Secondly, the forced withdrawal of the cash value of the insurance policy has a basic legal basis. Some people point out that the right to terminate an insurance contract can only belong to the insured, and the court should not directly require the insurance company to terminate the insurance contract and withdraw cash value. The author believes that after entering the compulsory execution procedure, the civil legal activities related to the person subject to execution should be restricted, and the execution court has the right to intervene in the civil legal activities related to the person subject to execution. For example, the court's execution of the debts due to the person being executed does not prerequisite the consent of the person being executed; the mandatory advance withdrawal of the person being executed's fixed deposits in the bank is not limited to the consent of the person being executed. For example, according to the relevant provisions of the Bankruptcy Law, after the court accepts the bankruptcy application, the administrator has the right to decide to terminate or continue to perform the contract that was established before the bankruptcy application was accepted but neither the debtor nor the other party had completed it.
In addition, according to the relevant provisions of the "Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Restricting High Consumption and Related Consumption of the Persons to Execute", if the person subject to Execution is a natural person, he shall not pay high premiums to purchase insurance and financial products. In the Execution Case of the Property Share Transfer Dispute of Deng Mou and Xingtie No. 1 Industrial Investment Fund Partnership ((2020) Supreme Court Execution No. 71), the Supreme People's Court pointed out that if the person subject to execution can unilaterally exercise the right to terminate the insurance contract without exercising it, resulting in the creditor's claims being unable to be paid, the people's court may force the person subject to execution to exercise it and terminate the purchased insurance contract instead of the insured.
2. Special rules when executing altruistic contracts. In the case where the insured, insured, and beneficiary are the same person, there is no obstacle to enforcing the cash value of the policy. However, as mentioned above, in life insurance, the insured, insured, and beneficiary are often not the same subject, and it is common for the person subject to be executed to purchase insurance products for his family. Whether the court needs to have appropriate special rules when withdrawing the cash value of such insurance policies is worth considering.
From a comparative law perspective, there are legislative regulations that the insured person for altruistic insurance contracts must obtain the consent of a third party to exercise the right of termination. For example, Article 639 of the Korean Commercial Code stipulates that if the insured person insures an insurance contract for others, the insured shall not terminate the insurance contract without obtaining the consent of the insured. my country's Insurance Law stipulates the principle that the right to terminate the contract is enjoyed by the insured. The relevant judicial interpretations of the Insurance Law also stipulate the insured and beneficiaries' resistance to the termination of the contract. The main reason is that the insured and beneficiaries can block the insured's right to terminate the contract by paying the corresponding consideration to the insured and accepting the contract status (redemption) of the insured and notifying the insured of the situation. This provision shall be applied during the enforcement of the court.
The author believes that when the insured, insured, and beneficiary are inconsistent, the court does not need to obtain the consent of the insured and beneficiary when executing the cash value of the policy of the person subject to execution (the insured). However, there should be corresponding notification or notification procedures before compulsory deduction. Whether it is informed by the insured or the court, the insured and beneficiary should be informed of the insured and beneficiary of the compulsory execution. At the same time, a certain period should be set to allow the insured and beneficiary to consider whether to redeem the policy and whether to block the insured's right to terminate the policy. If the time limit is not exercised, the court will enforce the cash value of the insurance policy.
3. Applicability of the principle of distinguishing when executing the cash value of the insurance policy. life insurance contracts can be divided into risk-protected life insurance and investment and financial life insurance. There should also be some distinction when executing. For risk-protected life insurance, such as accident insurance, critical illness insurance, etc., the cash value of such insurance policies after cancellation is generally less, which is far from the insurance benefits that can be obtained after the insurance is incurred. We must respect the basic value of insurance transfer risks, and risk-protected life insurance is generally not enforced. For investment and financial management life insurance, because its investment and financial management nature tends to be more obvious, the cash value of the insurance policy is also greater, and it can be enforced.
3. The path to execution of the policy cash value suggests
The author believes that the execution of the policy cash value requires strengthening the top-level design, and the following aspects should be considered:
1. Establish the principle of exhausting other property execution. personal insurance, in addition to some of the person subject to transfer property to evade or evade execution, it may be more likely that the person subject to be subject to personal planning for himself or his family's future personal insurance, which contains a lot of trust or expected benefits. Once the cash value of the insurance policy is executed, after the insurance contract is terminated, it will have a great impact on the person subject to execution and the contract related party, and it will generally be irreversible after the contract is terminated. Therefore, the execution of the property of the person subject to execution should be established as the principle of corresponding execution order. The execution of the cash value of the insurance policy should be inferior, that is, the cash value of the insurance policy cannot be directly executed without exhausting the execution of other properties.
2. Reflects the principle of execution ratio. The value of execution of matches the consequences that the person to be executed should bear, and is an embodiment of the principle of execution proportion. The execution value of insurance policies such as accident insurance and critical illness insurance is low, but the insurance related to the person subject to execution can be greatly protected, and the cash value of such policies can be exempted from execution. The proportional principle is also reflected in the application of "reduced insurance". When the execution subject is less than the cash value of the policy, the insurer may reduce the insurance policy and then assist in the execution of the corresponding refund, rather than terminate the contract in all, in order to maximize the rights and interests of the insured and the contractual person.
3. Abide by the principle of good faith. From the perspective of implementing a good faith civilization, it can protect the reasonable expectations of the insured and beneficiaries through relevant system design, and try its best to protect the relevant redemption intervention rights. If the insured, insured, and beneficiary is inconsistent, the court shall give the insured and beneficiary a redemption intervention period of no less than 15 days when enforcing the cash value (refer to the court's online investigation and control of the objection period 15 days before deduction of bank deposits). After receiving the request for assistance in execution, the insurer shall inform the insured and beneficiary of the relevant situation and allow them to purchase the contract within 15 days by paying the corresponding consideration to block the insured's right to terminate the termination. If no one intervenes in redemption after the deadline, the court shall execute the cash value of the insurance policy; if there is a redemption, the insurer shall change the corresponding insurance contract or notes and deliver the redemption value to the court.
(Author’s unit: Shanghai Higher People’s Court)
Source: People’s Court News
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