萬國法律事務所

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan has passed an amendment to the Insurance Act which bans any compensation in whatever form for the death of an insured child under the age of 15 years. The amendment also sets an NT$ 500,000 cap on the funeral expense payouts in the event of the death of a legally incompetent individual. The amendment is to prevent insurance fraud involving the murder of children and legally incompetents.

The pre-amended Article 107 of the Insurance Act stipulated that, “if, at the time a life insurance contract is entered into, the insured is a minor under fourteen years old, or mentally impaired, or of diminished mental capacity, all death benefits other than funeral expense benefits shall be void.” Although the pre-amended provision provides no death benefits other than funeral expenses to the beneficiary of the policy funeral payouts as high as NT$ 2,000,000 could still provide sufficient motive for interested parties who might consider murdering an insured child.

There have been few insurance fraud cases involving the murder of minors in recent years. However, to prevent any such from happening, the amendment clearly requires that an insured be at least 15 years old before any death benefits can be received by the beneficiary. If an insured dies before he/she reaches age 15, the insurer is required only to refund the premium plus interest accrued.