피보험자가 정신질환을 이유로 자살한 경우 면책조항에 관한 검토 = A Study on Exclusion Clauses about suicide of insurant by Mental illness

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

For more than ten years starting from year 2003, South Korea's suicide rate has been the highest amongst the OECD members. The extreme suicide rate has brought forth many social issues, including those related to the reception of insurance benefits. The life insurance standard clauses state that in exceptional circumstances,
insurance companies are obliged to payout insurance to the survivors even when the insurant's death was self-induced. However, the lack of any law to enforce such regulations and the discrete exclusive criteria of insurance companies, has caused a dispute on whether the survivors can claim insurance when the insurant has
committed suicide. The Supreme Court, on its verdict of June 23rd, 2015, proclaimed that ① although
a death, which has been caused by an external factor during a period in which the insurant lacked free will, ought to be considered an insured peril, ② an exception clause, which distinguishes the insurant's mental illness as an exception to the insurant's suicide, cannot be regarded as an unfair term and ③ therefore, the insurer is released from the obligation to pay insurance proceeds of an insurance accident
that occurred while the insurant was unable to make independent decisions as a result of suffering psychosis.
The Supreme Court's verdict of viewing unwilled suicide as an insurance peril is valid. However, to claim the insurant's mental illness as an independent exception clause, violates the essences of insurances, and when regarding the common practices of insurance companies, it can be assumed that such policies will act against the benefits of the clients. As a result, it is predictable that there will be a continuous debate on the validity of the current verdict, which releases insurers from their obligation to pay insurance proceeds of insurance accidents that occur while the insurant lacks the ability to make independent decisions as an outcome of mental illness.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서언 Ⅱ. 사건의 경위
• 1. 사건의 개요
• 2. 사건의 경과 Ⅲ. 생명보험에서의 자살과 보험자의 면책
• 1. 보험자 면책의 의의 및 기능
• 2. 우리 나라의 자살면책조항
• 3. 생명보험약관상 자살의 의미
• 4. ‘생명보험계약에서의 자살’에 관한 법원의 입장 Ⅳ. 피보험자의 정신질환에 의한 자살과 면책조항에 대한 비교법적 고찰
• 1. 영국
• 2. 미국
• 3. 독일
• 4. 일본 Ⅴ. ‘피보험자의 정신질환에 의한 자살’에 관한 면책조항의 불공정성 여부
• 1. 약관의 해석 방법 및 불공정 약관조항
• 2. ‘피보험자의 정신질환에 의한 자살’에 관한 면책조항의 효력 Ⅵ. 결론