Term lesson 21

Comments on the Philippine Insurance Code transposition

General comments

• Aim : to explain to a non specialist– Try to explain as much as possible

• even the detail

– No holds barred !• If you need twice as many words, use them!

• ‘ Not being an English-speaker… ’– English speakers would have the same

difficulty – the terms need special learning.• The aim is clarity, not idiomaticity.

Terminology : the key

• Terms define special knowledge. – Without the knowledge of terms,

it is not possible to understand a specialised text

• Terms form a conceptual system. – They must be defined one in relation to

another, to give access to this system.

documentation

• General language dictionaries– only limited use

• though common insurance terms are defined

• Specialised dictionaries• Webster’s New World Law Dictionary

• Term banks : IATE et Termium• made by terminologists• validated by experts

• Online glossaries • variable quality

– marketing aim

• Specialised studies• HODGES, S (1996), Law of marine insurance, Cavendish

TERMIUM : general average

DEF – A principle of maritime law according to which the owners of a ship and cargo share in a loss incurred voluntarily.

CONT – It is recognized that three conditions must exist in order to invoke general average: (1) the adventure must be exposed to a common and imminent peril; (2) extraordinary expenses or sacrifices must be incurred to avert or mitigate the peril(3) the adventure (or at least part of it) must be saved. Should the vessel and cargo sink or be lost through fire or otherwise, general average would not apply.

OBS – An example [of general average] is when a cargo has to be jettisoned in order to save a vessel in danger of sinking during a storm.

PHR – general average clause, bond, contribution

TERMIUM : avarie communeDEF – Avarie propre aux transports par mer ou dans certains cas

fluviaux, résultant du sacrifice de marchandises ou de la dépense (dite avaries frais) engagée par le commandant en raison d'un péril menaçant le bateau, tel qu'un abordage, un échouement, une panne de machine, etc. Cette mesure étant pour le salut de l'armateur et des propriétaires de la marchandise, chacun devra alors in fine participer aux frais, proportionnellement aux valeurs sauvées.

CONT – À titre d'exemple, un fait d'avarie commune existe lorsqu'au cours d'une tempête on jette une partie de la cargaison à la mer en vue de sauver le navire.

PHR – clause d'avarie commune, compromis d'avarie commune, contribution à l'avarie commune.

– (Esp) : avería común, avería gruesa, avería general

TERMIUM : particular average

• DEF – ... partial loss on an individual shipment from one of the perils insured against, regardless of the balance of the cargo.

•OBS – Standardized by the CGSB [Canadian General Standards Board].

• avarie simple• DEF – [...] perte partielle

subie par une expédition individuelle et causée par l'un des périls visés par le contrat d'assurance, sans tenir compte du reste de la cargaison, par opposition aux avaries communes.

TERMIUM : actual total loss

• OBS – An actual total loss is not to be mistaken for a constructive total loss.

• OBS – In the context of an insurance policy a total loss may occur if:

• (i) the goods are completely destroyed; • (ii) the owner is irretrievably deprived

of the ownership of goods; • (iii) goods are transformed to such an

extent that they no longer can be said to be the same as those insured;

• (iv) the subject matter of the insurance, be it ship or goods on board the ship, is declared as "missing" by an accredited underwriting agency.

• perte totale réelle

DEF – [Perte subie lorsque] la chose assurée est détruite ou endommagée au point de cesser d'être une chose de l'espèce assurée, ou si l'assuré en est irrémédiablement privé.

• OBS – La perte totale réelle ne doit pas être confondue avec la perte réputée totale.

• pérdida total real • DEF – Tipo de cobertura que puede

contraerse en el seguro marítimo. El asegurador paga el cargamento solamente si el buque queda totalmente destruido. Constituye la garantía mínima posible.

• Cf stipulated form of insurance

TERMIUM : constructive total loss

• DEF – A loss in which the item insured is not totally destroyed but is so severely damaged that it is not financially worth repairing.

OBS – To establish a claim for constructive total loss the assured must give a notice of abandonment ... to the underwriters.

•

• perte totale implicite • CONT – Sous réserve de toute

disposition expresse de la police, il y a perte réputée totale lorsque l'objet de l'assurance est raisonnablement délaissé parce que la perte totale réelle semble inévitable ou parce que l'objet de l'assurance n'aurait pas pu être préservé d'une perte totale réelle sans que soient engagées des dépenses supérieures à sa valeur [...]

TERMIUM : abandonement

• DEF – In insurance, the right granted to the insured to transfer his/her rights relating to the goods insured to the insurer, the latter being obliged to pay the entire sum insured.

• délaissement • DEF – Arrangement par lequel

l'assuré cède à l'assureur le droit de propriété sur des marchandises sinistrées, ou sur ce qu'il en reste, contre paiement de l'indemnité qui aurait été versée en cas de perte totale

• OBS – Le terme «abandon» s'emploie particulièrement pour désigner l'action de laisser des marchandises ou des biens à des tiers (compagnies d'assurances, transporteurs, douanes, etc.) en règlement total ou partiel de ce qui leur est dû

TERMIUM

• policyowner• DEF – The person who

has the ownership rights in an insurance policy and who may or may not be either the policyholder or the insured.

OBS – Often used loosely to refer to the policyholder and/or the insured.

• propriétaire de la police

• CONT – Le propriétaire est, à l'origine, celui qui, ayant souscrit le contrat, est responsable du paiement des primes ... ou celui à qui le souscripteur a pu céder ses droits dans le contrat.

‘local’ terms

• As used in this Code, the term "fire insurance" shall include insurance against loss by fire, lightning, windstorm […]– In this collection of rules, fire insurance is

defined as follows. It includes [not only] fire, [but also] lightning, windstorms…

= definition in extension

metonomy

– freightage

– The entire cargo available on a ship. http://maritimedictionary.org

– If freight is paid by the consignee (as under FOB terms) the goods become the consignee's property when handed over to the carrier against a bill of lading. Also called freightage, it may be charged on the weight or volume of the shipment […] http://www.instant-shipping-quotes.com/

Specialised verbs

• write insurance– to practice the business of insurance by an insurer

• Such examination may be waived– This examination may be dispensed with

• waive : give up [a right, a privilege…]

• the interests of a beneficiary shall be forfeited– the beneficiary will have to renounce his interests

– NB Insurable interest exists when an insured person derives a financial or other kind of benefit from the continuous existence of the insured object.

Textual difficulties

• Absence of repetition Insurance […] ceases because of termination of employment or of membership of the class eligible for coverage = Insurance […] ceases because of termination of employment or of termination of membership of the class eligible for coverage

Negatives

• No statement made by any insured shall be used in any contest unless a copy of the instrument containing the statement is or has been furnished to such a person or to his beneficiary.

• In case of a contest, a person or his beneficiary cannot use a statement which has been made by the person insured unless this person or his beneficiary has a copy of a written document containing this statement.

What does the negative… negate?

• No statement made by any insured shall be used in any contest unless a copy of the instrument containing the statement is or has been furnished to such a person or to his beneficiary.

• If there is a legal dispute [in any contest] the insurer is not entitled to use a statement made by the client [and which might incriminate him] unless the client is given a copy of these statements. If the client is no longer alive, then these statements must be transmitted to his beneficiary/ies.

syntax

• Replacing passive constructions with active constructions.

• Replacing nominalisations with congruent forms

• Problem : finding the real subject, and sometimes object

– Who does what ?

Which is the right interpretation?

• (f) A provision specifying the options to which the policyholder is entitled to in the event of default in a premium payment after three full annual premiums shall have been paid.

• (f) A provision specifying the options the insured as the right to use if he has not received a premium after three years without receiving nay premiums that should have been paid to him.

• or

• (f) A clause which explains what the choices are if the policyholder has not paid the premiums ….

Before 1

• Sec. 110. A concealment in a marine insurance, in respect to any of the following matters, does not vitiate the entire contract, but merely exonerates the insurer from a loss resulting from the risk concealed:

• Sec. 110. A non-disclosure in a marine contract, doesn’t cancel the entire contract, but exempt [sic] the insurance company from a loss resulting from the risk which is not mentioned concerning the following matter;

After 1

• Sec. 110. A concealment in a marine insurance, in respect to any of the following matters, does not vitiate the entire contract, but merely exonerates the insurer from a loss resulting from the risk concealed:

• Sec. 110. In the field of marine insurance, the insured company may decide not to give the insurer information on a certain number of points when they make up the contract. If this is the case, it doesn’t mean that the whole contract is no longer valid. It just means that the insurer does not have to pay any compensation if the points not mentioned give rise to a loss. Here are the points:

Before 2Estimating the value of an insurance company in

the Philippines • (6) The stock of a subsidiary

of an insurer shall be valued on the basis of the greater of (i) the value of only such subsidiary of the assets of such subsidiary as would constitute lawful investments for the insurer if acquired or held directly by the insurer or (ii) such other value determined pursuant to standards and cumulative limitations, contained in a regulation to be promulgated by the Commissioner.

• [6] The capital of a company that is controlled by the insurance company will be determined according to the basis of most of the value of only this company and its economic resources that are expected to provide benefits (also providing investments for the insurance company) and other values complying with methods and limitations.

After 2

• (6) The stock of a subsidiary of an insurer shall be valued on the basis of the greater of (i) the value of only such subsidiary of the assets of such subsidiary as would constitute lawful investments for the insurer if acquired or held directly by the insurer or (ii) such other value determined pursuant to standards and cumulative limitations, contained in a regulation to be promulgated by the Commissioner.

• [6] There are two ways of calculating how much money a company owned by the insurance company has. One way is to take it from the insurer’s point of view, and count the investments this company has that would be appropriate for the insurer. The other way is to apply the rules laid down in the standards imposed by the Commissioner. The way that gives the largest value is the one to be accepted.