Insurance policies
The document you only read after something went wrong. Exclusions written to cover the ordinary case, deadlines that run before you knew you had a claim, and limits inside the limit.
10 traps
Every trap Redline looks for
People buy just before a trip or treatment and are refused; a surgeon who can no longer operate but could teach gets nothing under 'any occupation'; carcinoma in situ is 'not cancer'; a…
The sales summary lists what is covered while the exclusions sit 30 pages deeper in a document the buyer never receives; most household water and roof claims are denied as 'gradual' or…
A 15-year-old roof pays 30-40% of replacement; ОСАГО cash payouts run 30-50% below real repair cost and КАСКО «нормы износа» cut a first-year total-loss payment by 15-20%; dealer warranty…
The Bank of Russia found bank staff selling ИСЖ/НСЖ to customers aged 70+ as a 'more profitable deposit'; US annuities lock money for 7-10 years; the buyer discovers the surrender table…
Hospital bills abroad, pet surgery or a borrower's disability claim are denied on the basis of an old GP note or repeat prescription; 'chronic' and 'related' are defined so widely that…
Almost any theft, freeze, fall or holiday accident can be recast as 'you were not careful' or 'you had two beers'; «активный отдых» is defined so broadly that ordinary activities qualify…
The big number on the schedule is not what you can claim for the thing you actually lose; a 2% deductible on a $400k house is $8,000 so most storm claims fall inside it; a home insured for…
People handle the emergency first and call later; documents from police or weather services take weeks; unapproved care is reimbursed at a fraction or not at all («расходы не согласованы с…
Insurers monetise inertia (UK FCA: six million policyholders would have saved £1.2bn by switching in 2018); being dropped after one claim; paying a year's premium and getting nothing back…
Honest mistakes (wrong postcode, forgotten speeding ticket, unmentioned pet, dashcam 'modification') become a full denial after the loss; the burden is pushed onto the consumer and the…
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
- waiting periodNarrow benefit definitions
- wear and tearBuried policy exclusions
- actual cash valuePayout shrunk by depreciation
- surrender chargeInvestment-life surrender penalty
- pre-existing medical conditionPre-existing condition exclusion
- take all reasonable precautionsConduct-based coverage denial
Is it enforceable where you are
In the UK, the Insurance Act 2015 and Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 restrict what an insurer may avoid; in the EU, the IDD and Directive 93/13 apply, and in the US, insurance is regulated state by state.
- Cited
- ERISA
- PHSA §2708
- C-96/14
- IDD
- Van Hove
- VVG §161
- [2021] UKSC 1
- FCA v Arch
- Пленума ВС № 19/2024
- ст. 431 ГК
- ст. 942 ГК
- ст. 957 ГК
- ст. 963 п. 3
- Howell v. State Farm
Check your own contract
A lease hides different things from a loan agreement, and a privacy policy hides different things again. Pick the document on your desk and see what usually goes wrong in it.