On The Obligation Of Informing Increased Risk On Insurance Law

The obligation of informing increased risk is an important legal obligation which the insurance applicant or the insured should fulfill according to the Insurance Law. The purpose of setting the obligation is to restore the interest balance of the parties of the contract and to make the insurance industry develop soundly by solving the problems of asymmetrical information. The author analyzed the basic theory of the obligation of informing increased risk and examined the provisions of the Insurance Law of our country. Finally, the author gave some suggestions to perfect legislation on the obligation of informing increased risk. The author wrote four chapters to discuss the obligation of informing increased risk in this paper besides the preface and the conclusion.The first chapter is the summary of basic theory of the obligation of informing increased risk. First, the author analyzed the related concepts of the obligation. Risk is the uncertain objective condition of the loss caused by accident or force majeure in the future, and it is objective, uncertain, relative predictability. Increased risk is the fact that the dangerous situation of the insurance object was changed. It is obvious unjust to the insurer if the parties still fulfill the insurance contract on the basis of the original premium after the dangerous situation is changed. The author also discussed the legal nature and the legal significance besides these concepts. Second, the author discussed the basis of insurance of the obligation. The law of average and asymmetrical information of insurance is the basis of insurance of the obligation of informing increased risk. Third, the author elaborated the basis of legal principle of the obligation of informing increased risk. The Principle of Good Faith, Consideration and Balance Principle and the Principle Circumstances Change is the basis of legal principle of the obligation. Finally, the author made a comparison about the obligation of informing increased risk among the legislative provisions of continental legal system countries. At the same time, the author also analyzed the legislative provisions of the obligation of the Insurance Law of People's Republic of China.The author has defined the increased risk and made the legal classification of the obligation of informing increased risk in the second chapter. The increased risk on insurance law should meet some positive conditions. At the same time, some negative conditions should be considered. The so-called positive conditions are that the objective facts of increased risk must exist in reality. The positive conditions include level elements, time elements, subjective elements and etc. The level elements is that the increased risk must exceed the original risk level of the insurance object greatly, which damage the original balance of the insurance contract and cause the unbalance of contractual rights and obligations of the insurance contract parties seriously. The time elements include two aspects. First, increased risk should happen in the insurance liabilities period. Second, the situation of increased risk of insurance object should continue for some time. The subjective elements, that is no evaluated, are that the increased risk of insurance object was not evaluated or considered by the parties of the insurance contract when they signed the contract. The negative conditions should be considered,too. That is, although the fact of increased risk happened, the insurance applicant or the insured must not fulfill their notification obligations under some circumstances. The author also discussed the types of increased risk in this chapter. The increased risk is divided into two types of the increased risk stipulated in the contract and the increased risk non-stipulated in the contract according to whether the increased risk is stipulated in the contract. The increased risk is divided into two types of the subjective increased risk and the objective increased risk according to the different causes which can lead to the increased risk.The author discussed the fulfillment of the obligation of informing increased risk on insurance law in the third chapter. The subjects who fulfill the obligation of informing increased risk are the insurance applicant or the insured who have the obligation to inform the fact to the insurers when the risk level of insurance object is increased greatly. The insurance applicant or the insured should fulfill the obligation to make the insurer know the fact of increased with the effective methods in the shortest possible time after the increase happened. The insurer should proposed first to increase insurance premium if the insurance applicant or the insured fulfill the obligation in time to restore the balance of interests between the two parties. However, the insurer only terminates the contract when the balance of interests cannot be restored or the insurance applicant do not agree to increase insurance premium. The insurer can propose to increase insurance premium or terminate the contract when the insurance applicant or the insured do not fulfill in time or do not tell the insurer the fact of increased risk.The author gave some legislative suggestions to perfect the obligation of informing increased risk in the fourth chapter. First, it is necessary to add the insurance applicant as the subject of duties in order to make the surer know the fact of increased risk in a short time so that the surer can take some measures to restore the balance of the insurance contract. Second, the obligation of informing increased risk should be divided into subjective increased risk and objective increased risk, and stipulate different legal consequences according to different type of the obligation. Finally, the obligation of informing increased risk should be stipulated in the general principle of Insurance Law to make the provisions apply to life insurance contracts, which can make the insurer know and control the risk and protect the interests of insurer better.