ASSICURAZIONE. – The contract of insurance (the earliest examples of which date back to the late Middle Ages in the case of maritime insurance, and to the sixteenth century in the case of fire insurance and life insurance) is a synallagmatic and aleatory contract (v. CONTRATTO), whereby the insurer (who, under current Italian law, may be only an institution governed by public law or a joint-stock company) undertakes, in return for the payment of a periodic sum (premium) by another party (the insured), either to indemnify the latter, within the agreed limits, for the damage resulting to him from a future possible casualty (insurance against damage), or to pay, either once and for all or periodically, to the insured himself or to a third party, a sum upon the occurrence of an event relating to human life (life insurance).
The contract generally appears in a document (policy), issued by the insurer, who signs it, to the other contracting party; such a policy may also be made to order (that is, transferable by endorsement) or to bearer.
Insurance may also be taken out in another’s name, or on another’s account; in that case the insured is not the contracting party, but the person in whose name or on whose account the contract is lawfully concluded.
In no case, however, is the insurer obliged to compensate damage resulting from casualties caused by fraud or, unless otherwise agreed, by gross negligence on the part of the contracting party, the insured, or the beneficiary. Moreover, a contract of insurance against damage is void if the insured has no interest in compensation for the damage.
From the moral point of view, both the insurer and the insured or beneficiary are bound to act honestly, and the latter are obliged to make restitution if they receive compensation for damage for which they themselves are directly responsible, or which is due to causes that, under the terms of the contract, they were bound to disclose.
Life insurance may be taken out either on one’s own life or on that of a third party; and in both cases it may involve
the insurer’s obligation to pay a sum either in the event of the person’s death (provided that, if it concerns a third party, the contract is concluded with his consent), or in the event of survival at a specified time. It may also be taken out for the benefit of a third party (beneficiary), to be designated in the contract itself, or by a subsequent written declaration communicated to the insurer, or by will. However, in the event of suicide by the insured occurring before two years have elapsed from the date on which the contract was concluded, the insurer is not obliged to make payment, unless otherwise agreed.
The general rules on insurance are laid down in Articles 1882–1927 of the Civil Code. Special laws establish rules concerning insurance undertakings and mutual insurance (cf. also Articles 2546–48 of the Civil Code). Insurance against the risks of maritime, inland-waterway, or air navigation is governed, in addition to the provisions of the Civil Code, by special rules contained in Articles 514–47 and 996–1021 of the Navigation Code.