For a long time, insurance companies have included many clauses and exclusions in their insurance policies that allowed them to deny indemnity payments. Several Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (“SC RF”) rulings last year declared null and void clauses that exempt the insurer from paying indemnity in the event of an insured event due to the negligent actions of the policyholder.

This position is truly new. Until 2025, the courts did not consider the issue of possible recharacterization of exclusions from insurance coverage provided for in the insurance contract in such a substantive manner. Thus, they allowed for greater discretion of the parties in formulating the exclusions. - Roman Sadovsky, counsel for the KKMP, comments.

Another important case for the market is Lafid v. RSHB-Insurance (No. A40-266406/2023). The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified the application of Article 964 of the Civil Code on the insurer's exemption from payments due to “hostilities”. The insurer refused to pay insurance compensation for a building damaged by shelling in Shebekin, referring to this provision of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. However, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified: the refusal is legal only in case of an officially declared state of war or organized repulsion of an attack by another state. Since martial law has not been declared in the Belgorod region, the insurance company is obliged to pay compensation.

Since 2022, the courts have repeatedly faced the issue of insurers' exemption from paying insurance indemnity in connection with damage to property caused by shelling, shell hits and the like. But the definition of the Supreme Court is of great importance for the insurance market, as the issues considered in it were analyzed in such detail at the level of the Supreme Court panel for the first time. - Violetta Drondina, Senior Lawyer of KKMP, comments.

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