Changes in the insurance contract

The insurance contract can be changed on application of the insured or insurer who wishes to change the terms of the original agreement. New circumstances affecting the risk originally declared, may also warrant a modification of the insurance contract.

Changes in the insurance contract on application of the insured or the insurer

• The insurer or the insured may consider new warranty terms, deleting or adding disclaimers, changes related to coverage limits or deductibles, new capital.
• These changes may, for example, deletion of all accidents collateral damage to a vehicle too old, the revaluation of capital holders to obtain a better compensation, the insertion of a clause replacement value …
• The insurer is behind a proposal to amend the insurance contract

When the insurer proposes to review the provisions of the original insurance contract, it must in all cases seek the agreement of the insured. This agreement must be evidenced by an amendment as stipulated in Article L. 112-3 of the Insurance Code: “Any addition or amendment to the original contract of insurance shall be evidenced by an endorsement signed by the parties.”

The insured may reject the proposed changes. The insurer must maintain the conditions of initial guarantees. However, it has the option to terminate the contract at year’s end following.

The insured is the source of a request to amend the insurance contract
Article L 112-2 of the Insurance Code provides special rules regarding the acceptance of the insurer.
To the extent that its application is not a contract of life insurance, the insured will be considered as accepted if the insurer does not refuse it within ten days. In other words, silence implies acceptance from the insurer.
The Supreme Court confirmed this rule regularly. It also found that letter was not an essential condition that would influence the validity of the offer. The submission of a proposal to amend a contract of insurance to the insurance company or agent is equivalent to receiving a letter.

Changes in the insurance contract related to changes in risk

The increased risk
When the risk described at the time of signing the insurance contract evolves over time, this may lead to increased risk.
However, Article L. 113-2 of the Insurance Code requires the insured to “declare, under contract, the new circumstances which result or worsen the risk, either to create new ones and thus make it inaccurate or obsolete responses made to the insurer “in the declaration form of risk when entering into the contract.

This is the case, for example, the motorist who wants to use his vehicle for business purposes while he is insured for private travel. This also applies to the craftsman in the space adjacent to his, empty at the time of subscription becomes a storehouse of dangerous products.

The insured must notify the insurer of any changes regarding the risk insured within fifteen days from the moment he becomes aware.
As a result of mandatory reporting, the insurer must tell the insured, within ten days if he wants to terminate the contract of insurance or maintain security with an increase of the contribution. (Article L. 113-4 of the Insurance Code).

• In case of termination
• It comes ten days after notification.
• If offered with increase of the contribution

Two situations are possible:
be the insured does not comply with the proposal of the insurer or expressly refuses the new amount in the period of thirty days from the proposal, the insurer may terminate the insurance contract at the end of that period;
be the insured accepts the new conditions and an amendment or a new contract is established.

These provisions do not deprive the insurer to propose alternative solutions. Thus, when the change in risk seems minor in terms of pricing criteria selected for subscription, the insurer can save by amendment the new situation without raising dues. Similarly, a new contract can be established for a better consideration of changes in risk.

The risk reduction
Even when the new situation is not an aggravation of risk, the insured retains the right to declare to your insurer.
In case, the calculation of the premium, the insurer has taken account of certain circumstances specified in the insurance contract and that they become unavailable, the amount of the contribution must be reduced.

An insurer’s refusal to reduce the amount of the assessment allows the insured to terminate the insurance contract. Termination shall take effect thirty days after the denunciation made by the insured (Article L. 113-4 of the Insurance Code).

The provisions of Article L. 113-4 of the Insurance Code shall not apply to life insurance or health insurance when the health of the insured person is changed.

Changes of the insurance required by law

New guarantees are sometimes imposed by law. In this case, the insured can not refuse.
This was the case when the legislature has mandated the guarantee against natural disasters in 1982: the insured had to accept the addition of this guarantee and the fee increase. Similarly, since the Act of September 9, 1986, all contracts of property insurance include the warranty property damage resulting from acts of terrorism and attacks.

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