The Lisbon Court of Appeal, in a decision issued on 20 December 2022, ruled on the compliance procedure of with the duty of communication through the simple delivery, to the insured person, of the contract’s particular conditions and the availability of the general and special conditions on the insurer's website, concluding that this practice is not compliant with the duty of communication, i.e. of providing the insured, in good time, with the full content of the contractual clauses so that he may be fully and effectively informed of their content. The simple referral to a website or to a putative referral is not suitable to make it possible for the real knowledge of the clauses by the counterparty, nor to prove the adequate and effective communication of the clauses or the duty to inform on the aspects included therein.
Accordingly, the Lisbon Court of Appeal decided to condemn the insurer to pay the amount due for the materialisation of the risk (accident and death of the insured), even though excluded by the general conditions, due to the age of the insured person. The Court held that clause to be excluded from the contract, pursuant to article 8, a) of the LCCG, as it was found that the duty to communicate was not met by the insurer.
The decision is available here.
