GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 1. This Decree shall be known as "The Insurance Code".

Sec. 2. Whenever used in this Code, the following terms shall have the respective
meanings hereinafter set forth or indicated, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) A "contract of insurance" is an agreement whereby one undertakes for a consideration
to indemnify another against loss, damage or liability arising from an unknown or
contingent event.
A contract of suretyship shall be deemed to be an insurance contract, within the
meaning of this Code, only if made by a surety who or which, as such, is doing an
insurance business as hereinafter provided.
(2) The term "doing an insurance business" or "transacting an insurance business",
within the meaning of this Code, shall include:
(a) making or proposing to make, as insurer, any insurance contract;
(b) making or proposing to make, as surety, any contract of suretyship as a
vocation and not as merely incidental to any other legitimate business or activity
of the surety;
(c) doing any kind of business, including a reinsurance business, specifcally
recognized as constituting the doing of an insurance business within the meaning
of this Code;
(d) doing or proposing to do any business in substance equivalent to any of the
foregoing in a manner designed to evade the provisions of this Code.
In the application of the provisions of this Code the fact that no proft is derived from
the making of insurance contracts, agreements or transactions or that no separate or
direct consideration is received therefore, shall not be deemed conclusive to show that
the making thereof does not constitute the doing or transacting of an insurance
business.
(3) As used in this code, the term "Commissioner" means the "Insurance Commissioner".
Chapter 1
THE CONTRACT OF INSURANCE
Title 1
WHAT MAY BE INSURED
Sec. 3. Any contingent or unknown event, whether past or future, which may damnify a
person having an insurable interest, or create a liability against him, may be insured
against, subject to the provisions of this chapter.
The consent of the husband is not necessary for the validity of an insurance policy taken
out by a married woman on her life or that of her children.
Any minor of the age of eighteen years or more, may, notwithstanding such minority,
contract for life, health and accident insurance, with any insurance company duly
authorized to do business in the Philippines, provided the insurance is taken on his own
life and the benefciary appointed is the minor's estate or the minor's father, mother,
husband, wife, child, brother or sister.
The married woman or the minor herein allowed to take out an insurance policy may
exercise all the rights and privileges of an owner under a policy.
All rights, title and interest in the policy of insurance taken out by an original owner on
the life or health of a minor shall automatically vest in the minor upon the death of the
original owner, unless otherwise provided for in the policy.
Sec. 4. The preceding section does not authorize an insurance for or against the drawing
of any lottery, or for or against any chance or ticket in a lottery drawing a prize.
Sec. 5. All kinds of insurance are subject to the provisions of this chapter so far as the
provisions can apply.
Title 2
PARTIES TO THE CONTRACT
Sec. 6. Every person, partnership, association, or corporation duly authorized to
transact insurance business as elsewhere provided in this code, may be an insurer.
Sec. 7. Anyone except a public enemy may be insured.
Sec. 8. Unless the policy otherwise provides, where a mortgagor of property efects
insurance in his own name providing that the loss shall be payable to the mortgagee, or
assigns a policy of insurance to a mortgagee, the insurance is deemed to be upon the
interest of the mortgagor, who does not cease to be a party to the original contract, and
any act of his, prior to the loss, which would otherwise avoid the insurance, will have the
same efect, although the property is in the hands of the mortgagee, but any act which,
under the contract of insurance, is to be performed by the mortgagor, may be performed
by the mortgagee therein named, with the same efect as if it had been performed by the
mortgagor.
Sec. 9. If an insurer assents to the transfer of an insurance from a mortgagor to a
mortgagee, and, at the time of his assent, imposes further obligation on the assignee,
making a new contract with him, the act of the mortgagor cannot afect the rights of
said assignee.
Title 3
INSURABLE INTEREST
Sec. 10. Every person has an insurable interest in the life and health:
(a) Of himself, of his spouse and of his children;
(b) Of any person on whom he depends wholly or in part for education or support,
or in whom he has a pecuniary interest;
(c) Of any person under a legal obligation to him for the payment of money, or
respecting property or services, of which death or illness might delay or prevent
the performance; and
(d) Of any person upon whose life any estate or interest vested in him depends.
Sec. 11. The insured shall have the right to change the benefciary he designated in the
policy, unless he has expressly waived this right in said policy.
Sec. 12. The interest of a benefciary in a life insurance policy shall be forfeited when the
benefciary is the principal, accomplice, or accessory in willfully bringing about the
death of the insured; in which event, the nearest relative of the insured shall receive the
proceeds of said insurance if not otherwise disqualifed.
Sec. 13. Every interest in property, whether real or personal, or any relation thereto, or
liability in respect thereof, of such nature that a contemplated peril might directly
damnify the insured, is an insurable interest.
Sec. 14. An insurable interest in property may consist in:
(a) An existing interest;
(b) An inchoate interest founded on an existing interest; or
(c) An expectancy, coupled with an existing interest in that out of which the
expectancy arises.
Sec. 15. A carrier or depository of any kind has an insurable interest in a thing held by
him as such, to the extent of his liability but not to exceed the value thereof.
Sec. 16. A mere contingent or expectant interest in anything, not founded on an actual
right to the thing, nor upon any valid contract for it, is not insurable.
Sec. 17. The measure of an insurable interest in property is the extent to which the
insured might be damnifed by loss or injury thereof.
Sec. 18. No contract or policy of insurance on property shall be enforceable except for
the beneft of some person having an insurable interest in the property insured.
Sec. 19. An interest in property insured must exist when the insurance takes efect, and
when the loss occurs, but not exist in the meantime; and interest in the life or health of
a person insured must exist when the insurance takes efect, but need not exist
thereafter or when the loss occurs.
Sec. 20. Except in the cases specifed in the next four sections, and in the cases of life,
accident, and health insurance, a change of interest in any part of a thing insured
unaccompanied by a corresponding change in interest in the insurance, suspends the
insurance to an equivalent extent, until the interest in the thing and the interest in the
insurance are vested in the same person.
Sec. 21. A change in interest in a thing insured, after the occurrence of an injury which
results in a loss, does not afect the right of the insured to indemnity for the loss.
Sec. 22. A change of interest in one or more several distinct things, separately insured
by one policy, does not avoid the insurance as to the others.
Sec. 23. A change on interest, by will or succession, on the death of the insured, does
not avoid an insurance; and his interest in the insurance passes to the person taking his
interest in the thing insured.
Sec. 24. A transfer of interest by one of several partners, joint owners, or owners in
common, who are jointly insured, to the others, does not avoid an insurance even though
it has been agreed that the insurance shall cease upon an alienation of the thing insured.
Sec. 25. Every stipulation in a policy of insurance for the payment of loss whether the
person insured has or has not any interest in the property insured, or that the policy
shall be received as proof of such interest, and every policy executed by way of gaming or
wagering, is void.
Title 4
CONCEALMENT
Sec. 26. A neglect to communicate that which a party knows and ought to communicate,
is called a concealment.
Sec. 27. A concealment whether intentional or unintentional entitles the injured party
to rescind a contract of insurance. (As amended by Batasang Pambansa Blg. 874)
Sec. 28. Each party to a contract of insurance must communicated to the other, in good
faith, all facts within his knowledge which are material to the contract and as to which
he makes no warranty, and which the other has not the means of ascertaining.
Sec. 29. An intentional and fraudulent omission, on the part of one insured, to
communicate information of matters proving or tending to prove the falsity of a
warranty, entitles the insurer to rescind.
Sec. 30. Neither party to a contract of insurance is bound to communicate information
of the matters following, except in answer to the inquiries of the other:
(a) Those which the other knows;
(b) Those which, in the exercise of ordinary care, the other ought to know, and of
which the former has no reason to suppose him ignorant;
(c) Those of which the other waives communication;
(d) Those which prove or tend to prove the existence of a risk excluded by a
warranty, and which are not otherwise material; and
(e) Those which relate to a risk excepted from the policy and which are not
otherwise material.
Sec. 31. Materiality is to be determined not by the event, but solely by the probable and
reasonable infuence of the facts upon the party to whom the communication is due, in
forming his estimate of the disadvantages of the proposed contract, or in making his
inquiries.
Sec. 32. Each party to a contract of insurance is bound to know all the general causes
which are open to his inquiry, equally with that of the other, and which may afect the
political or material perils contemplated; and all general usages of trade.
Sec. 33. The right to information of material facts may be waived, either by the terms of
the insurance or by neglect to make inquiry as to such facts, where they are distinctly
implied in other facts of which information is communicated.
Sec. 34. Information of the nature or amount of the interest of one insured need not be
communicated unless in answer to an inquiry, except as prescribed by section ffty-one.
Sec. 35. Neither party to a contract of insurance is bound to communicate, even upon
inquiry, information of his own judgment upon the matters in question.
Title 5
REPRESENTATION
Sec. 36. A representation may be oral or written.
Sec. 37. A representation may be made at the time of, or before, issuance of the policy.
Sec. 38. The language of a representation is to be interpreted by the same rules as the
language of contracts in general.
Sec. 39. A representation as to the future is to be deemed a promise, unless it appears
that it was merely a statement of belief or expectation.
Sec. 40. A representation cannot qualify an express provision in a contract of insurance,
but it may qualify an implied warranty.
Sec. 41. A representation may be altered or withdrawn before the insurance is efected,
but not afterwards.
Sec. 42. A representation must be presumed to refer to the date on which the contract
goes into efect.
Sec. 43. When a person insured has no personal knowledge of a fact, he may nevertheless
repeat information which he has upon the subject, and which he believes to be true, with
the explanation that he does so on the information of others; or he may submit the
information, in its whole extent, to the insurer; and in neither case is he responsible for
its truth, unless it proceeds from an agent of the insured, whose duty it is to give the
information.
Sec. 44. A representation is to be deemed false when the facts fail to correspond with its
assertions or stipulations.
Sec. 45. If a representation is false in a material point, whether afrmative or
promissory, the injured party is entitled to rescind the contract from the time when the
representation becomes false. The right to rescind granted by this Code to the insurer is
waived by the acceptance of premium payments despite knowledge of the ground for
rescission. (As amended by Batasang Pambansa Blg. 874).
Sec. 46. The materiality of a representation is determined by the same rules as the
materiality of a concealment.
Sec. 47. The provisions of this chapter apply as well to a modifcation of a contract of
insurance as to its original formation.
Sec. 48. Whenever a right to rescind a contract of insurance is given to the insurer by
any provision of this chapter, such right must be exercised previous to the
commencement of an action on the contract.
After a policy of life insurance made payable on the death of the insured shall have been
in force during the lifetime of the insured for a period of two years from the date of its
issue or of its last reinstatement, the insurer cannot prove that the policy is void ab
initio or is rescindible by reason of the fraudulent concealment or misrepresentation of
the insured or his agent.
Title 6
THE POLICY
Sec. 49. The written instrument in which a contract of insurance is set forth, is called a
policy of insurance.
Sec. 50. The policy shall be in printed form which may contain blank spaces; and any
word, phrase, clause, mark, sign, symbol, signature, number, or word necessary to
complete the contract of insurance shall be written on the blank spaces provided
therein.
Any rider, clause, warranty or endorsement purporting to be part of the contract of
insurance and which is pasted or attached to said policy is not binding on the insured,
unless the descriptive title or name of the rider, clause, warranty or endorsement is also
mentioned and written on the blank spaces provided in the policy.
Unless applied for by the insured or owner, any rider, clause, warranty or endorsement
issued after the original policy shall be countersigned by the insured or owner, which
countersignature shall be taken as his agreement to the contents of such rider, clause,
warranty or endorsement.
Group insurance and group annuity policies, however, may be typewritten and need not
be in printed form.
Sec. 51. A policy of insurance must specify:
(a) The parties between whom the contract is made;
(b) The amount to be insured except in the cases of open or running policies;
(c) The premium, or if the insurance is of a character where the exact premium is
only determinable upon the termination of the contract, a statement of the basis
and rates upon which the fnal premium is to be determined;
(d) The property or life insured;
(e) The interest of the insured in property insured, if he is not the absolute owner
thereof;
(f) The risks insured against; and
(g) The period during which the insurance is to continue.
Sec. 52. Cover notes may be issued to bind insurance temporarily pending the issuance
of the policy. Within sixty days after the issue of the cover note, a policy shall be issued
in lieu thereof, including within its terms the identical insurance bound under the cover
note and the premium therefore.
Cover notes may be extended or renewed beyond such sixty days with the written
approval of the Commissioner if he determines that such extension is not contrary to
and is not for the purpose of violating any provisions of this Code. The Commissioner
may promulgate rules and regulations governing such extensions for the purpose of
preventing such violations and may by such rules and regulations dispense with the
requirement of written approval by him in the case of extension in compliance with such
rules and regulations.
Sec. 53. The insurance proceeds shall be applied exclusively to the proper interest of the
person in whose name or for whose beneft it is made unless otherwise specifed in the
policy.
Sec. 54. When an insurance contract is executed with an agent or trustee as the insured,
the fact that his principal or benefciary is the real party in interest may be indicated by
describing the insured as agent or trustee, or by other general words in the policy.
Sec. 55. To render an insurance efected by one partner or part-owner, applicable to the
interest of his co-partners or other part-owners, it is necessary that the terms of the
policy should be such as are applicable to the joint or common interest.
Sec. 56. When the description of the insured in a policy is so general that it may
comprehend any person or any class of persons, only he who can show that it was
intended to include him can claim the beneft of the policy.
Sec. 57. A policy may be so framed that it will inure to the beneft of whomsoever, during
the continuance of the risk, may become the owner of the interest insured.
Sec. 58. The mere transfer of a thing insured does not transfer the policy, but suspends
it until the same person becomes the owner of both the policy and the thing insured.
Sec. 59. A policy is either open, valued or running.
Sec. 60. An open policy is one in which the value of the thing insured is not agreed upon,
but is left to be ascertained in case of loss.
Sec. 61. A valued policy is one which expresses on its face an agreement that the thing
insured shall be valued at a specifc sum.
Sec. 62. A running policy is one which contemplates successive insurances, and which
provides that the object of the policy may be from time to time defned, especially as to
the subjects of insurance, by additional statements or indorsements.
Sec. 63. A condition, stipulation, or agreement in any policy of insurance, limiting the
time for commencing an action thereunder to a period of less than one year from the
time when the cause of action accrues, is void.
Sec. 64. No policy of insurance other than life shall be cancelled by the insurer except
upon prior notice thereof to the insured, and no notice of cancellation shall be efective
unless it is based on the occurrence, after the efective date of the policy, of one or more
of the following:
(a) non-payment of premium;
(b) conviction of a crime arising out of acts increasing the hazard insured against;
(c) discovery of fraud or material misrepresentation;
(d) discovery of willful or reckless acts or omissions increasing the hazard insured
against;
(e) physical changes in the property insured which result in the property
becoming uninsurable; or
(f) a determination by the Commissioner that the continuation of the policy would
violate or would place the insurer in violation of this Code.
Sec. 65. All notices of cancellation mentioned in the preceding section shall be in
writing, mailed or delivered to the named insured at the address shown in the policy, and
shall state (a) which of the grounds set forth in section sixty-four is relied upon and (b)
that, upon written request of the named insured, the insurer will furnish the facts on
which the cancellation is based.
Sec. 66. In case of insurance other than life, unless the insurer at least forty-fve days in
advance of the end of the policy period mails or delivers to the named insured at the
address shown in the policy notice of its intention not to renew the policy or to
condition its renewal upon reduction of limits or elimination of coverages, the named
insured shall be entitled to renew the policy upon payment of the premium due on the
efective date of the renewal. Any policy written for a term of less than one year shall be
considered as if written for a term of one year. Any policy written for a term longer than
one year or any policy with no fxed expiration date shall be considered as if written for
successive policy periods or terms of one year.
Title 7
WARRANTIES
Sec. 67. A warranty is either expressed or implied.
Sec. 68. A warranty may relate to the past, the present, the future, or to any or all of
these.
Sec. 69. No particular form of words is necessary to create a warranty.
Sec. 70. Without prejudice to section ffty-one, every express warranty, made at or before
the execution of a policy, must be contained in the policy itself, or in another
instrument signed by the insured and referred to in the policy as making a part of it.
Sec. 71. A statement in a policy of matter relating to the person or thing insured, or to
the risk, as a fact, is an express warranty thereof.
Sec. 72. A statement in a policy which imparts that it is intended to do or not to do a
thing which materially afects the risk, is a warranty that such act or omission shall take
place.
Sec. 73. When, before the time arrives for the performance of a warranty relating to the
future, a loss insured against happens, or performance becomes unlawful at the place of
the contract, or impossible, the omission to fulfll the warranty does not avoid the
policy.
Sec. 74. The violation of a material warranty, or other material provision of a policy, on
the part of either party thereto, entitles the other to rescind.
Sec. 75. A policy may declare that a violation of specifed provisions thereof shall avoid
it, otherwise the breach of an immaterial provision does not avoid the policy.
Sec. 76. A breach of warranty without fraud merely exonerates an insurer from the time
that it occurs, or where it is broken in its inception, prevents the policy from attaching
to the risk.
Title 8
PREMIUM
Sec. 77. An insurer is entitled to payment of the premium as soon as the thing insured is
exposed to the peril insured against. Notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, no
policy or contract of insurance issued by an insurance company is valid and binding
unless and until the premium thereof has been paid, except in the case of a life or an
industrial life policy whenever the grace period provision applies.
Sec. 78. An acknowledgment in a policy or contract of insurance or the receipt of
premium is conclusive evidence of its payment, so far as to make the policy binding,
notwithstanding any stipulation therein that it shall not be binding until the premium is
actually paid.
Sec. 79. A person insured is entitled to a return of premium, as follows:
(a) To the whole premium if no part of his interest in the thing insured be exposed
to any of the perils insured against;
(b) Where the insurance is made for a defnite period of time and the insured
surrenders his policy, to such portion of the premium as corresponds with the
unexpired time, at a pro rata rate, unless a short period rate has been agreed upon
and appears on the face of the policy, after deducting from the whole premium
any claim for loss or damage under the policy which has previously accrued;
Provided, That no holder of a life insurance policy may avail himself of the
privileges of this paragraph without sufcient cause as otherwise provided by law.
Sec. 80. If a peril insured against has existed, and the insurer has been liable for any
period, however short, the insured is not entitled to return of premiums, so far as that
particular risk is concerned.
Sec. 81. A person insured is entitled to return of the premium when the contract is
voidable, on account of fraud or misrepresentation of the insurer, or of his agent, or on
account of facts, the existence of which the insured was ignorant without his fault; or
when by any default of the insured other than actual fraud, the insurer never incurred
any liability under the policy.
Sec. 82. In case of an over-insurance by several insurers, the insured is entitled to a
ratable return of the premium, proportioned to the amount by which the aggregate sum
insured in all the policies exceeds the insurable value of the thing at risk.
Title 9
LOSS
Sec. 83. An agreement not to transfer the claim of the insured against the insurer after
the loss has happened, is void if made before the loss except as otherwise provided in the
case of life insurance.
Sec. 84. Unless otherwise provided by the policy, an insurer is liable for a loss of which a
peril insured against was the proximate cause, although a peril not contemplated by the
contract may have been a remote cause of the loss; but he is not liable for a loss which
the peril insured against was only a remote cause.
Sec. 85. An insurer is liable where the thing insured is rescued from a peril insured
against that would otherwise have caused a loss, if, in the course of such rescue, the
thing is exposed to a peril not insured against, which permanently deprives the insured
of its possession, in whole or in part; or where a loss is caused by eforts to rescue the
thing insured from a peril insured against.
Sec. 86. Where a peril is especially excepted in a contract of insurance, a loss, which
would not have occurred but for such peril, is thereby excepted although the immediate
cause of the loss was a peril which was not excepted.
Sec. 87. An insurer is not liable for a loss caused by the willful act or through the
connivance of the insured; but he is not exonerated by the negligence of the insured, or
of the insurance agents or others.
Title 10
NOTICE OF LOSS
Sec. 88. In case of loss upon an insurance against fre, an insurer is exonerated, if notice
thereof be not given to him by an insured, or some person entitled to the beneft of the
insurance, without unnecessary delay.
Sec. 89. When a preliminary proof of loss is required by a policy, the insured is not bound
to give such proof as would be necessary in a court of justice; but it is sufcient for him
to give the best evidence which he has in his power at the time.
Sec. 90. All defects in a notice of loss, or in preliminary proof thereof, which the insured
might remedy, and which the insurer omits to specify to him, without unnecessary delay,
as grounds of objection, are waived.
Sec. 91. Delay in the presentation to an insurer of notice or proof of loss is waived if
caused by any act of him, or if he omits to take objection promptly and specifcally upon
that ground.
Sec. 92. If the policy requires, by way of preliminary proof of loss, the certifcate or
testimony of a person other than the insured, it is sufcient for the insured to use
reasonable diligence to procure it, and in case of the refusal of such person to give it,
then to furnish reasonable evidence to the insurer that such refusal was not induced by
any just grounds of disbelief in the facts necessary to be certifed or testifed.
Title 11
DOUBLE INSURANCE
Sec. 93. A double insurance exists where the same person is insured by several insurers
separately in respect to the same subject and interest.
Sec. 94. Where the insured is overinsured by double insurance:
(a) The insured, unless the policy otherwise provides, may claim payment from
the insurers in such order as he may select, up to the amount for which the
insurers are severally liable under their respective contracts;
(b) Where the policy under which the insured claims is a valued policy, the insured
must give credit as against the valuation for any sum received by him under any
other policy without regard to the actual value of the subject matter insured;
(c) Where the policy under which the insured claims is an unvalued policy he must
give credit, as against the full insurable value, for any sum received by him under
any policy;
(d) Where the insured receives any sum in excess of the valuation in the case of
valued policies, or of the insurable value in the case of unvalued policies, he must
hold such sum in trust for the insurers, according to their right of contribution
among themselves;
(e) Each insurer is bound, as between himself and the other insurers, to contribute
ratably to the loss in proportion to the amount for which he is liable under his
contract.
Title 12
REINSURANCE
Sec. 95. A contract of reinsurance is one by which an insurer procures a third person to
insure him against loss or liability by reason of such original insurance.
Sec. 96. Where an insurer obtains reinsurance, except under automatic reinsurance
treaties, he must communicate all the representations of the original insured, and also
all the knowledge and information he possesses, whether previously or subsequently
acquired, which are material to the risk.
Sec. 97. A reinsurance is presumed to be a contract of indemnity against liability, and
not merely against damage.
Sec. 98. The original insured has no interest in a contract of reinsurance.
Chapter II
CLASSES OF INSURANCE
Title I
MARINE INSURANCE
Sub-Title 1- A
DEFINITION
Sec. 99. Marine Insurance includes:
(1) Insurance against loss of or damage to:
(b) Person or property in connection with or appertaining to a marine, inland marine,
transit or transportation insurance, including liability for loss of or damage arising out of
or in connection with the construction, repair, operation, maintenance or use of the
subject matter of such insurance (but not including life insurance or surety bonds nor
insurance against loss by reason of bodily injury to any person arising out of ownership,
maintenance, or use of automobiles);
Title 2
FIRE INSURANCE
Sec. 167. As used in this Code, the term "fre insurance" shall include insurance against
loss by fre, lightning, windstorm, tornado or earthquake and other allied risks, when
such risks are covered by extension to fre insurance policies or under separate policies.
Sec. 168. An alteration in the use or condition of a thing insured from that to which it is
limited by the policy made without the consent of the insurer, by means within the
control of the insured, and increasing the risks, entitles an insurer to rescind a contract
of fre insurance.
Sec. 169. An alteration in the use or condition of a thing insured from that to which it is
limited by the policy, which does not increase the risk, does not afect a contract of fre
insurance.
Title 3
CASUALTY INSURANCE
Sec. 174. Casualty insurance is insurance covering loss or liability arising from accident
or mishap, excluding certain types of loss which by law or custom are considered as
falling exclusively within the scope of other types of insurance such as fre or marine. It
includes, but is not limited to, employer's liability insurance, motor vehicle liability
insurance, plate glassinsurance, burglary and theft insurance, personal accident and
health insurance as written by non-life insurance companies, and other substantially
similar kinds of insurance.
Title 4
SURETYSHIP
Sec. 175. A contract of suretyship is an agreement whereby a party called the surety
guarantees the performance by another party called the principal or obligor of an
obligation or undertaking in favor of a third party called the obligee. It includes ofcial
recognizances, stipulations, bonds or undertakings issued by any company by virtue of
and under the provisions of Act No. 536, as amended by Act No. 2206.
Title 5
LIFE INSURANCE
Sec. 179. Life insurance is insurance on human lives and insurance appertaining thereto
or connected therewith.
Sec. 180. An insurance upon life may be made payable on the death of the person, or on
his surviving a specifed period, or otherwise contingently on the continuance or
cessation of life.
Every contract or pledge for the payment of endowments or annuities shall be considered
a life insurance contract for purpose of this Code.
In the absence of a judicial guardian, the father, or in the latter's absence or incapacity,
the mother, or any minor, who is an insured or a benefciary under a contract of life,
health or accident insurance, may exercise, in behalf of said minor, any right under the
policy, without necessity of court authority or the giving of a bond, where the interest of
the minor in the particular act involved does not exceed twenty thousand pesos. Such
right may include, but shall not be limited to, obtaining a policy loan, surrendering the
policy, receiving the proceeds of the policy, and giving the minor's consent to any
transaction on the policy.
Sec. 180-A. The insurer in a life insurance contract shall be liable in case of suicides only
when it is committed after the policy has been in force for a period of two years from the
date of its issue or of its last reinstatement, unless the policy provides a shorter period:
Provided, however, That suicide committed in the state of insanity shall be compensable
regardless of the date of commission. (As amended by Batasang Pambansa Blg. 874).
Sec. 181. A policy of insurance upon life or health may pass by transfer, will or
succession to any person, whether he has an insurable interest or not, and such person
may recover upon it whatever the insured might have recovered.
Sec. 182. Notice to an insurer of a transfer or bequest thereof is not necessary to
preserve the validity of a policy of insurance upon life or health, unless thereby
expressly required.
Sec. 183. Unless the interest of a person insured is susceptible of exact pecuniary
measurement, the measure of indemnity under a policy of insurance upon life or health
is the sum fxed in the policy.
Chapter VI
COMPULSORY MOTOR VEHICLE
LIABILITYINSURANCE
Sec. 373. For purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Motor Vehicle" is any vehicle as defned in section three, paragraph (a) of Republic
Act Numbered Four Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Six, Otherwise known as the "Land
Transportation and Trafc Code."
(b) "Passenger" is any fare paying person being transported and conveyed in and by a
motor vehicle for transportation of passengers for compensation, including persons
expressly authorized by law or by the vehicle's operator or his agents to ride without
fare.
(c) "Third-Party" is any person other than a passenger as defned in this section and shall
also exclude a member of the household, or a member of the family within the second
degree of consanguinity or afnity, of a motor vehicle owner or land transportation
operator, as likewise defned herein, or his employee in respect of death, bodily injury, or
damage to property arising out of and in the course of employment. (As amended by
Presidential Decree No. 1814 and 1981).