Insurance and reinsurance contracts
We assist our clients in drafting, reviewing, bringing into compliance and interpreting their insurance and reinsurance contracts, taking into account the particular features of each market.
France
An insurance policy or a is written to last: it will be reread when a claim arises, during an audit, an inspection or a portfolio transfer, sometimes in a country other than the one where it was signed.
We draft and review these contracts, life and non-life, for insurers, reinsurers and corporate policyholders, and we give our reading of their clauses when a claim or a transaction requires it.
What we do
Drafting
- Drafting policies and their documentation: general and special conditions, questionnaires, information notices, endorsements.
- Insurance programmes of groups present on several markets: how the master policy and the local policies fit together, and the rules specific to each country.
- Reinsurance treaties, proportional or excess of loss: scope, exclusions, follow-the-fortunes and claims settlement clauses.
- Sensitive clauses: definition of the loss, trigger of cover, exclusions, limits and deductibles, subrogation, governing law and dispute resolution.
Review and compliance
- Review of a portfolio of contracts before a transaction, an inspection or a regulatory change.
- Compliance of policies and information documents with the Code des assurances (the French insurance code), the Code de la consommation (the French consumer code) and the recommendations of the (the French prudential supervision and resolution authority).ACPRAutorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution: the French authority, attached to the Banque de France, that authorises and supervises banks and insurers and oversees the protection of their customers.
- Updating contracts after a reform or a court decision that changes how a clause is read.
- Consistency between policies and the treaties that reinsure them: cover, exclusions, serial claims.
Interpretation and claims
- Opinions on the scope of a cover or an exclusion, when a claim or a complaint arises.
- The insurer’s or reinsurer’s position where cover is disputed, before any litigation.
- Negotiation and settlement; failing that, litigation or arbitration (see Litigation).
Frequently asked questions
Can a policy drafted for the French market cover risks located in other countries?
A policy can cover risks located abroad, but each country imposes its own rules: compulsory insurance, law governing the contract, taxes, authorisation of the insurer. The answer therefore depends on the country and the risk. An international programme generally combines a master policy with local policies; we check that the whole remains consistent and compliant on each market.
How should a reinsurance treaty follow the policies it covers?
The treaty must mirror the scope, exclusions and settlement conditions of the reinsured policies, and set out how both parties handle a serial claim or a dispute with the insured. Cover granted by the policy but excluded by the treaty remains with the insurer. We read both documents together, at the drafting stage and when a claim arises.