Teismų praktika

  • Bylos aprašymas
    • Nacionalinis numeris: Supreme Court, Judgement 3K-3-221-403-2019
    • Valstybė narė: Lietuva
    • Bendrinis pavadinimas:N/A
    • Sprendimo rūšis: Aukščiausiojo Teismo sprendimas
    • Sprendimo data: 27/06/2019
    • Teismas: Supreme Court of Lithuania
    • Tema:
    • Ieškovas:
    • Atsakovas:
    • Raktažodžiai: ex officio, unfair terms
  • Direktyvos straipsniai
    Unfair Contract Terms Directive, link
  • Įžanginė pastaba

    The Court held that a clause in vehicle insurance rules which stipulates that the insurance company shall reduce the insurance benefit by 50 percent and limit the amount that can be received for a child car seat stolen together with the vehicle, only because the consumer had left vehicle registration documents inside the car during the theft, was not fair, because such a large penalty for the consumer for such a minor violation cannot be considered proportionate to the harm caused by the violation.

  • Faktai

    The plaintiff’s car was stolen, therefore, he made a claim with his car insurance company (the defendant) for compensation. The defendant calculated the insurance benefit of EUR 16 900 for the car and the child seat in it and reduced it by 50% in accordance with Article 7, paragraph 7.1.9 (f) and Article 4, paragraph 4.2.3 of the Insurance Rules, and paid the plaintiff EUR 8525. Defendant reduced the insurance benefit because the plaintiff had left registration documents inside the car during the theft. The plaintiff did not agree to the reduction because his insurance policy did not contain any additional provisions regarding deductions in case of theft. The plaintiff was not acquainted with the insurance rules and insurance conditions that allow the insurer to reduce the insurance benefit by 50% and the plaintiff had not been provided with a copy of these rules.  The plaintiff did not see a causal link between the theft of the car and the documents left in the car. The plaintiff summed up that because he did not confirm clauses 4.2.3 and 7.1.9 f of the Insurance Rules, and was not aware of these conditions, he could not reasonably expect the defendant to apply conditions not agreed upon by the parties, which are surprising to the plaintiff, and asked the Court to declare them invalid.

    The First Instance Court dismissed the action.

    The Appellate Court left the decision of  The First Instance Court unchanged.

  • Teisės klausimas

    Are these provisions of vehicle insurance rules considered fair: 1) If in the case of theft of a vehicle the documents of this vehicle have been left in this vehicle, the insurance benefit is reduced by 50%; 2) in the event of an insured event, the insurance indemnity in the case of one event may not exceed 150 EUR for damage, destruction, or loss of a child safety seat installed in the vehicle?

  • Sprendimas

    Yes. Vehicle insurance rules, where the insurance benefit is reduced by a fixed amount (reduction of 50 percent, or does not exceed EUR 150), shall be recognised as unfair and invalid (Paragraphs 2, 6, 8, 9 of Article 6.2284 of the Civil Code of Lithuania). The Court stated that a clause in the vehicle insurance rules regarding 50 percent reduction of the insurance indemnity and a limited liability of EUR 150 for the child seat due to the registration certificate being left in the vehicle, cannot be considered proportionately corresponding to the impact of the violation (leaving registration certificate) and the probability of damage due to the insured event and its amount, or to the reduced probability of finding the stolen vehicle. The Court added that there is a clear discrepancy between the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract to the detriment of the consumer. The consumer was not in a position to assess the economic consequences of such conditions on the basis of precise and comprehensible criteria.

    URL: https://eteismai.lt/byla/230080606385783/3K-3-221-403/2019?word=ne%C4%AFgali%C5%B3j%C5%B3%20apsaugos%20konvencija

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  • Susijusios bylos

    Rezultatų nėra

  • Teisinė literatūra

    Rezultatų nėra

  • Rezultatas

    The Court overruled part of the decisions of the Court regarding the mentioned vehicle insurance provisions and decided that the mentioned provisions are unfair and invalid from the moment of conclusion. The Court referred the rest of the case back to the First Instance Court for retrial.