Changes to the contract
We must distinguish those carried out on the one hand, by the insured and on the other hand, by the insurer.
By the insured
Article L. 112-2, paragraph 5 of the Code of Insurance enacts the following: "is considered accepted the proposal made by registered letter of prolonging or amending a contract or to remeure a suspended contract, if The insurer does not refuse this proposal within ten days after it has reached him. "
This provision, written very broadly, applies to all types of insurance except for life insurance.
The modification can be of any nature and scope (Cass. I, 15 June 1999, n ° 97-17426). Therefore, he can act to add a new guarantee (Cass. I, November 14, 1995, No. 93-16650); change of premises (Cass. Civ. I, No. 95-19663); Addition of a risk of water damage to initial fire coverage (Cass. I, October 11, 1994, n ° 92-18.271).
At the end of the period of ten days after the mofile application reached the insurer, hence the importance of the registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, the tacitive meaning of the insurer is deemed to be acquired. The modification therefore takes effect on that date (Cass. I, May 21, 1975, n ° 74-10361).
The ten-day period begins the next day at 0 hour of receipt by the insurer of the modification request.
By the insurer
If your insurer decides to unilaterally modify the conditions of its guarantees (the franchises, for example) or informs you of the removal or addition of a new warranty, you have perfectly the right to refuse these modifications. Indeed, any modification of the contract by the insurer can only be done with your express agreement. Your silence, unlike the rule for the amendments proposed by the insured, will not have an acceptance value.
This arises from the contractual principle enacted in Articles 1103, 1104 and 1193 of the Civil Code (formerly Article 1134 of the Civil Code): "The legally trained conventions lie in law to those who made them [...]. They must be executed in good faith." In addition, if the insurer has automatically taken the price of a new warranty without giving it your prior agreement, you are entitled not only to refuse this new warranty but also to seek reimbursement of the amounts paid increased the legal interest rate (Article L. 132-16 of the Consumer Code). The sums paid are productive interest at the legal rate from the date of their payment. These interests are increased by half from the moment you request the refund.
Even if your insurance company is a mutual company, you may refuse the amendments, Article R. 322-65, paragraph 1 of the Insurance Code provides for: "The General Assembly [of the members] can not Neither reduce, nor increase the commitments of members resulting from ongoing contracts ".
In front of your refusal, your insurer will then continue the contract to the old conditions or take the unatiment to terminate it at the next deadline.
Any modification must be formalized by an endorsement (Article L. 112-3, paragraph 5 of the insurance code).
10 - Prescription
The law of the insurance contract is the subject of a prescription regime in its own right. It is denominated prescription biennial.
Indeed, on the contrary of the common law regime (five-year prescription, Article 2224 of the Civil Code), all actions derived from the insurance contract are prescribed by two years from the event which gives rise to it. This principle is governed by Article L. 114-1 of the Insurance Code. This is an extinctive prescription: after two years from a given starting point, the rights that the insured or the insurer want to exercise can no longer be.
Note in life insurance contract, the prescription is, in the vast majority of cases, decennial.
From when the limitation period begins?
The Insurance Code and the jurisprudence bring precise elements of response:
1 - In case of reluctance, omission, false or inaccurate declaration on the risk of the day when the insurer had awareness (Article L. 114-1, 1 ° of the Insurance Code).
Example: The starting point of the two-year period runs from the day the insurer had awareness of the lie in the declaration (Cass. Civ. I, March 25, 1991, n ° 89-21545) or the day of The correctional hearing where the insurer learns the unreported history of the insured (Cass. II, April 7, 2011, No. 10-14382).
2 - In the event of a claim, the delay is running only from the day the persons concerned have been aware, if they prove that they ignored so far (Article L. 114-1, paragraph 2, (2) of the insurance code).
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