I'm Giancarlo Enrico S. Pozon, a Wushu instructor, investor and Barrister... That's right, Barrister; I graduated from law school and took the Bar Exams, now I'm waiting for the results. I created this blog to make Philippine Law easy to understand for the average person. It's all about free legal advice. There are many law blogs. But the problem is that many of them are written for lawyers and law students. They use words that can't be understood by ordinary people.
Many lawyers, judges and law students consider themselves as superior to most human beings because of their knowledge of the law. It bothers me since the law is supposed to serve society. Since the law is meant to serve society as a whole, it is important that is must be understood by everybody.
This does not mean that we should all become lawyers. It means that although law is a highly specialized profession, the first duty of everybody in this profession is to make the law understandable to all; that's why all these articles are free legal advice.
Like I said, this blog is about law -but it's for the ordinary people, not the lawyers. It's for the ordinary folk so they will know what is good and bad for them, and that making them aware of the law will help us all improve society as a whole. This is free legal advice for everybody!
1.) Risk-distributing
It serves to distribute the risk of economic loss among as many as possible to those who are subject to the same kind of risk. Each member pays a certain amount to the general fund that is specifically made to address the loss agreed upon. The member of the group who suffers from the agreed loss is therefore comensated.
2.) Contract of adhesion
The terms and conditions of the contract aren't agreed on but prepared by one of the parties (the insurance company) beforehand. The other party's participation is in the signing (that's why it's called "adhesion") Consequently, the insurance company has the duty to explain the terms and conditions of the contract. In case a suit has been filed against the insurance company, it has the burden to prove that the terms and conditions were explained properly to the client.
A contract of adhesion is interpreted strictly against the maker and liberally in favor of the signer. But if the terms and conditions are clear, then the contract will be interpreted literally.
3.) Aleatory
It requires a certain event to happen but it isn't a contract of chance. Payment of the indemnity will take place only if the event insured against happens and the parties have complied with the contract's requisites. The event may be certain but could occur at an unknown time or an uncertain one.
4.) Contract of indemnity
Indemnity is the basis of all insurance. The insured who has an insurable interest over the insured property can recover only the amount of the actual loss sustained and he must establish the amount of the loss. There are 3 things to consider here:
a.) It applies only to property insurance, unless the creditor insures the life of his debtor
b.) Life insurance isn't a contract of indemnity and there is no over-insurance in life insurance. There is over-insurance in property insurance but the insurer is only liable up to the actual amount of the loss.
c.) Insurance contracts aren't wagering (gambling) contracts
5.) Uberrimae Fides
Both parties are required to be in perfect good faith. The parties to the contract must disclose information and conditions that affect the risk of which they are aware or material facts which the applicant knows (and those that he should know.) This is because the insurer must decide whether to accept the contract on the basis of the information the applicant gives him. Don't lie to your insurance agent!
6.) Personal
The law presumes that the insurer considered the insured's personal qualifications when the application was approved.
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