2013 Gohap 20420 Verification, etc. of the status of claim for payment of insurance proceeds

A

B Stock Company

April 3, 2014

May 1, 2014

1. Of the instant lawsuit, the part concerning the claim for confirmation of the status of the claim for insurance money shall be dismissed.

2. The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff 32,327.304 won with 20% interest per annum from January 7, 2014 to the day of complete payment.

3. The costs of lawsuit shall be borne by the defendant.

4. Paragraph 2 can be provisionally executed.

It is confirmed that the claim for the payment of insurance proceeds under the insurance contract entered in the attached Form No. 2 and the insurance contract concluded between the defendant and the deceased C is the plaintiff.

1. Basic facts

(a) Family relationship;

1) The Plaintiff and the deceased C (hereinafter referred to as “the deceased”) are those who have a blood relationship by the same parent system as the result of genetic testing.

2) On February 19, 1976, the Plaintiff and the Deceased lost their paths and their parents gather who are their parents, and they were registered in a separate family relations register by establishing a new family register with the permission of establishment of a surname from the Busan District Court on February 19, 1982.

3) The Deceased was unmarried at the time of his death.

(b) Conclusion of insurance contracts;

On October 8, 2012, the Deceased concluded an automobile insurance contract in the attached Form (hereinafter referred to as the “instant insurance contract”) with the Defendant, the insurer, as the insurer.

(c) Occurrence of insurance accidents;

On December 19, 2012, around 09:48, the Deceased died on January 19, 2013 at the F Hospital around 21:22, 2013 while driving an insured vehicle in the insurance contract of this case at a point 148 km from the 1,000 km away from that of another vehicle running in the same direction due to an erroneous change in course while driving an insured vehicle in the area of the Tri-rian Highway in the Jeju-si, Kim Jong-do (hereinafter referred to as the “insurance accident of this case”).

D. Plaintiff’s claim for insurance money

The plaintiff as a beneficiary of the insurance contract of this case and died upon the insurance accident of this case to the defendant

A claim for the payment of insurance proceeds and injury insurance proceeds was filed. The amount of the death insurance proceeds and injury insurance proceeds reflecting 20% of the fault ratio of the deceased who was the plaintiff as the plaintiff is 32,327,304 won [=(30,000,000 won + (10,409,130 won for medical expenses incurred by the plaintiff within the limit of the injury insurance amount +0.0.8]. [Grounds for recognition: No dispute exists; Gap's 1 through 8; Eul's 1 through 8; Eul's 1 through 4 (including serial numbers); the purport of the whole pleadings]

2. Whether a claim for confirmation of the status of the claimant for insurance proceeds is legitimate.

We examine the legitimacy of the ex officio claim to confirm the status of the claimant for insurance proceeds.

The Plaintiff sought reimbursement of insurance money under the instant insurance contract against the Defendant and sought confirmation that the claim for payment of insurance money under the said insurance contract is the Plaintiff.

However, as long as the benefit of confirmation in a lawsuit for confirmation exists in the legal status of the Plaintiff and the seeking confirmation of the pertinent legal relation is recognized as the most effective means to eliminate the risks of apprehensions, filing a lawsuit for performance, despite the fact that filing a lawsuit for confirmation is not a final solution of a dispute, there is no benefit of confirmation (see Supreme Court Decision 2005Da60239, Mar. 9, 2006).

Therefore, it is unlawful to seek confirmation that the Plaintiff has the right to claim the payment of insurance money separately from the claim for the payment of insurance money in this case.

3. Determination as to a claim for insurance money payment

A. The parties' assertion

1) The plaintiff's assertion

Since the Deceased, who is the insured of the instant insurance contract, died within the insurance period, the insurer, as the legal inheritor of the Deceased, the Defendant, as the beneficiary of the said insurance contract, is obligated to pay the death insurance money and the injury insurance money according to the contents guaranteed in the said insurance contract.

2) The defendant's assertion

The plaintiff did not enter the public register, such as the family relation register verifying that he is a statutory heir of the deceased, and even if the plaintiff is a statutory heir of the deceased, the plaintiff, who is merely a third-class heir, should prove the existence of the deceased more priority than the plaintiff through the public notice of the heir search, but can claim insurance money as the only heir of the deceased. Thus, unless there is such proof, the defendant cannot pay insurance money to the plaintiff.

B. Determination

The term "natural blood relative" refers to a person related to blood relationship, and a natural blood relative relationship naturally occurs by birth, and a person's status relationship is not determined only on the basis of the family relation register. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the family relation register is entered, the Plaintiff, who is in a blood relationship with the deceased, is the birth alone and the deceased, and thus, constitutes a legal heir under Article 100 (1) 3 of the Civil Act as a sibling of the deceased, who is the deceased.

In light of the following facts: (a) the Defendant asserts that the existence of an heir should be verified by the public announcement of the heir search; (b) the public announcement of the heir’s color prescribed in Article 1057 of the Civil Act is the inherited property process at the time when the existence of the heir is unclear; (c) the existence of an heir is not applicable in this case; and (d) the Plaintiff’s demand that the heir investigate the existence of other heir not indicated in the deceased’s family relation certificate is an excessive burden on the Plaintiff, a legitimate heir (and the Plaintiff was a child whose parent cannot be known around February 1976; and (d) it is virtually impossible to ascertain the existence of the Plaintiff’s parent’s life or death at around 38 years after the lapse of the period; and (e) the Defendant’s above assertion cannot be accepted (only in the future, the Defendant’s payment of the insurance money to the Plaintiff pursuant to the judgment of this case by the heir to the Defendant on the grounds that the heir’s priority or other heir’s claim for payment of the insurance money in this case to the Defendant is valid.

C. Sub-committee

Therefore, the Defendant, as the insurer of the instant insurance contract, is the legal inheritor of the Deceased, is obligated to pay the Plaintiff, who is the beneficiary of the said insurance contract, 32,327,304 won of the insurance proceeds under the said insurance contract and damages for delay at the rate of 20% per annum from January 7, 2014 to the day of full payment, as the Plaintiff seeks.

4. Conclusion

Therefore, the part of the plaintiff's claim for confirmation of the status of the claimant of insurance money among the lawsuit of this case is dismissed as unlawful, and it is so decided as per Disposition with the assent of all participating Justices.

The presiding judge, judge and police officer;

Judges Senior Superintendent and Senior Superintendent

Judges Heung-ho