For example, the insured thinks that some clauses in the insurance contract are unfavorable to him, that is, he denies the validity of some clauses in the insurance contract or even denies the validity of the insurance contract on the grounds that the insured has not signed the application form. How to treat insurance agents signing insurance policies on behalf of policyholders in legal practice? After an insurance company issues a formal policy, how to determine the legal effect of the policy? These problems have caused many controversies in practice. In order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all parties, insurance companies, insurance intermediaries and policyholders should pay attention to this issue.
In insurance practice, there are usually two kinds of insurance contracts. One is that the insurance contract is established through the process of the applicant signing the insurance policy and the offer and commitment of the insurance company issuing the insurance policy; An insurance agreement. The applicant and the insurer negotiate on special insurance clauses and special types of insurance respectively, and draw up relevant contract clauses. The insurance agreement itself is an insurance contract. In practice, the insurance agent signs the insurance policy on behalf of the insured, mainly in the first case.
According to the provisions of China's Insurance Law, the applicant makes an insurance request, the insurer agrees to apply for insurance, and an agreement is reached on the terms of the contract, and the insurance contract is established. In practice, it is usually the agent of the insurance company who introduces the relevant types of insurance and insurance clauses to the insured in advance for the insured to choose and consider. This introduction is an invitation to offer. When the applicant fills in the application form voluntarily or according to the introduction of the insurance agent, it is the applicant's offer to conclude an insurance contract through a one-way insurance company. After receiving the insurance policy, the insurer decides whether to underwrite it after necessary examination or investigation. If the insurer passes the examination, it will issue a formal insurance policy, which is a promise, and the insurance contract is established at this time. However, if the insurance agent signs the insurance application form on behalf of the insured, and the insured denies the effectiveness of the insurance for some reason afterwards, then whether the insurance contract is established must be analyzed in detail according to the actual situation.
Through the analysis of the insured's behavior, we can judge whether the insured authorizes the insurance agent to sign the insurance application on his behalf, and whether the reason why the insured denies the validity of the insurance contract is valid. According to the principal-agent principle in civil law, there are two ways for the principal to authorize the agent. One is express authorization, that is, the principal authorizes the agent to engage in certain activities in external forms such as language and writing; One way is implied authority, that is, the principal grants certain rights to the agent through his own implied behavior. Implied behavior includes positive implied behavior and negative implied behavior. Positive suggestion behavior usually expresses the real meaning of the actor through his behavior, while negative suggestion behavior expresses the real meaning of the actor through his inaction. According to the above principles, if the insurance agent signed the insurance policy on behalf of the insured, and there is no evidence that the insured gave a clear authorization at that time, it is necessary to make further judgment on the insured's behavior. If the applicant pays the insurance premium according to the insurance policy issued by the insurer, it can be regarded as that the applicant has confirmed the insurance agent's behavior of signing the insurance policy on his behalf by his positive implied behavior, that is, the applicant cannot simply deny the validity of the insurance policy or even the insurance contract on the grounds that the insurance policy is not signed by himself.
Therefore, we believe that the insurance agent's behavior of filling out the insurance application form and signing it on behalf of the insured should be analyzed in detail according to the specific situation, and the validity of the insurance contract cannot be simply denied. It is worth mentioning that the issue of insurance agent signing on behalf of the insured should attract enough attention from insurance companies and insurance intermediaries. Strengthen the management and training of insurance agents, so that they can fully understand the possible legal consequences of signing on their behalf without the explicit authorization of the insured. When necessary, inviting professional insurance lawyers to train agents regularly is an important way to reduce such disputes, and it is also one of the effective ways to make insurance companies get rid of the phenomenon of signing on behalf of policyholders. In addition, the insured should also take the insurance behavior seriously with a responsible attitude.
Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.