INSURANCE. - The contract of insurance (whose first examples date back to the late Middle Ages for maritime insurance, and to the 16th century for insurance against fire and for life insurance) is a synallagmatic and aleatory contract (v. CONTRACT), by which the insurer (who, under current Italian law, cannot be anything other than a public-law institution or a joint-stock company) undertakes, in exchange 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 deriving to him from a future possible loss (insurance against damage), or to pay, once 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 results from a document (policy), issued by the insurer, who signs it, to the other contracting party; such a policy may also be to order (that is, transferable by endorsement) or to bearer.
Insurance may also be stipulated 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 made.
In no case, however, is the insurer obliged to compensate damage deriving from losses caused by fraud, or (unless otherwise agreed) by gross negligence of the contracting party or of the insured or of the beneficiary. Furthermore, the contract of insurance against damage is void if there is no interest of the insured in compensation for the damage.
From the moral point of view, both the insurer and the insured or beneficiary are bound to act loyally, 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, according to the terms of the contract, they were bound to disclose.
Life insurance may be stipulated either on one's own life or on that of a third party; and in both cases it may entail 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 made with his consent), or in the event of survival at a determined moment. It may also be stipulated in favor 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 of the insured occurring before two years have elapsed from the date of the stipulation of the contract, the insurer is not bound to pay, unless otherwise agreed.
The general rules on insurance are established in arts. 1882-1927 of the Civil Code. Special laws establish rules on insurance undertakings and on mutual insurance (cf. also arts. 2546-48 of the Civil Code). Insurance against the risks of maritime, inland, or air navigation is governed, in addition to the rules of the Civil Code, also by special rules contained in arts. 514-47 and 996-1021 of the Navigation Code.