August 2017
Since the insured had sought to obtain insurance indemnity to resolve her economic difficulties by hiring a killer to murder her, she died of suicide rather than any accident(Taiwan)
Lenore Chen
The Taiwan High Court rendered the 103-Bao-Xian-Shang-5 Civil Decision of December 23, 2015 (hereinafter, the "Decision"), holding that since the insured had sought to obtain insurance indemnity to resolve her economic difficulties by hiring a killer to murder her, she died of suicide rather than any accident and could not claim insurance indemnity.
According to the facts underlying this Decision, the Appellant asserted that his mother had obtained the accident insurance contract at issue as the applicant and insured with her husband and son (i.e., the Appellant) as the beneficiaries. Since his mother was gunned down and died (hereinafter, the "Incident at Issue"), the Appellant claimed death benefits in the amount of NT$2 million to each beneficiary from the Appellee.
According to the Decision, the testimonies of the witness generally suggested that the Appellant's mother had intended to commit suicide before she died and had asked her husband to hire an assassin to kill her. Since she sought to obtain insurance indemnity to resolve her economic difficulties by hiring an assassin to kill her, she died of suicide rather than any accident. Therefore, it was held that the Appellant's assertion was groundless, the appeal was rejected and the original decision against the Appellant was upheld.
The Taiwan High Court rendered the 103-Bao-Xian-Shang-5 Civil Decision of December 23, 2015 (hereinafter, the "Decision"), holding that since the insured had sought to obtain insurance indemnity to resolve her economic difficulties by hiring a killer to murder her, she died of suicide rather than any accident and could not claim insurance indemnity.
According to the facts underlying this Decision, the Appellant asserted that his mother had obtained the accident insurance contract at issue as the applicant and insured with her husband and son (i.e., the Appellant) as the beneficiaries. Since his mother was gunned down and died (hereinafter, the "Incident at Issue"), the Appellant claimed death benefits in the amount of NT$2 million to each beneficiary from the Appellee.
According to the Decision, the testimonies of the witness generally suggested that the Appellant's mother had intended to commit suicide before she died and had asked her husband to hire an assassin to kill her. Since she sought to obtain insurance indemnity to resolve her economic difficulties by hiring an assassin to kill her, she died of suicide rather than any accident. Therefore, it was held that the Appellant's assertion was groundless, the appeal was rejected and the original decision against the Appellant was upheld.
