Goods in transit and cargo insurance: the clause requiring surveillance of the vehicle is lawful and not vexatious given that it aims at limiting the subject matter of the policy

With judgement n. 21758 of 2019 the Court of Cassation has again addressed the lawfulness of the clause contained in an insurance policy that makes coverage of the risk deriving from theft of goods subject to the adoption by the carrier of special safety devices or to the observance of substantive obligations, such as, inter alia: uninterrupted surveillance of the vehicle by the driver or by another person designated by the carrier during parking and stopping, custody of the vehicle in controlled-access spaces or spaces closed with appropriate means or areas protected by effective enclosures.

In particular, the Court excluded the vexatious nature of such clauses according to article 1341 of the Italian Civil Code, given that those clauses are not aiming at limiting the consequences of the insurer’s negligence or breach of contract, nor they are aiming at excluding the risk covered. In line with the most recent Court of Cassation case law, the Court confirmed that such clauses are instead intended to delimit the contract’s subject matter, given that they relate to the content and limits of the insurance coverage and, therefore, to specify the risk covered (and thus the scope of the coverage).

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended as a professional opinion.

For further information, please contact Anthony Perotto, Guido Foglia or Michele Zucca.