Contract trap · Insurance
Conduct-based coverage denial
Cover depends on behaviour and use: 'take all reasonable precautions', alarm set, property not unoccupied over 30/60 days, keys or documents never left in the car; no claim if 'under the influence' (often without a causation requirement), during 'hazardous' or 'active' pursuits (off-piste, mopeds, quad bikes) or against travel advice; motor cover void if driven by an unlisted driver, used for hire, ride-hailing, delivery or business, outside the declared territory or seasonal period — under Russian ОСАГО the victim is paid but the insurer recovers from the driver (регресс).
- Severity
- Severe
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 24
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.
In English-language contracts
- take all reasonable precautions
- unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days
- keys left in or on the vehicle
- security devices must be in full operation
- condition precedent to our liability
- under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- hazardous activities
- riding a motorcycle or moped
- against FCDO / State Department travel advice
- any driver not named in the schedule
- hire or reward
- business use
In Russian-language contracts
- оставление в транспортном средстве ключей и (или) регистрационных документов
- хищение вместе с ключами
- оставление ТС на неохраняемой стоянке
- грубая неосторожность
- в состоянии алкогольного, наркотического или токсического опьянения
- активный отдых
- экстремальные виды спорта
- лицо, не допущенное к управлению
- использование в качестве такси
- период использования транспортного средства
- территория страхования
- регрессное требование
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
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; gig-economy use (Uber, Яндекс, delivery apps) and lending the car to a friend are the largest silent gaps; RU КАСКО rules turn «ключи оставлены в машине» or «неохраняемая стоянка» into refusals.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
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.
United States
Conditions and exclusions enforceable; HO-3 'neglect' and 60-day vacancy exclusions standard; some states require a causal link to the loss and several repealed UPPL-style intoxication exclusions in health insurance; personal auto 'livery' exclusions, state TNC laws and rideshare endorsements fill the app-on gap; named-driver exclusions valid in most states.
European Union
Germany VVG §28/§81: breach of an Obliegenheit or gross negligence (e.g. drunk driving) reduces cover proportionally rather than eliminating it; Motor Insurance Directive 2009/103/EC makes driver-based exclusions ineffective against third-party victims, with recourse against the driver; risk definitions must be transparent (Van Hove).
- Cited
- Directive 2009/103/EC
- Van Hove
- VVG §28
United Kingdom
Insurance Act 2015 s.11 — a risk-mitigation term cannot be relied on if the breach could not have increased the risk of the actual loss; 'reasonable care' read as recklessness (Sofi v Prudential Assurance [1993] 2 Lloyd's Rep 559); FOS expects proof that alcohol contributed; Road Traffic Act 1988 s.151 obliges the insurer to pay third-party victims then recover; 'fronting' is misrepresentation.
- Cited
- Insurance Act 2015
- Road Traffic Act 1988
- Sofi v Prudential Assurance
Russia
ст. 963 ГК — gross negligence releases the insurer only where a federal law provides (п. 49 Пленума ВС № 19/2024), but п. 15 allows the contract to define the insured risk as theft «без документов и (или) ключей» and to exclude an unlisted driver, superseding the 2013 Plenum No. 20 (п. 32, 34); ОСАГО: victim paid, recourse under ст. 14 40-ФЗ (unlisted driver, outside insured period, no licence, fled scene, intoxication or refused sobriety test).
- Cited
- 40-ФЗ
- Пленума ВС № 19/2024
- ст. 14
- ст. 963 ГК
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Supreme Court of Russia Plenum No. 19 (25 June 2024) para 15: a voluntary motor policy may define the insured theft risk as theft without documents/keys and exclude unlisted drivers, replacing the 2013 Plenum No. 20 position
- Sofi v Prudential Assurance Co Ltd [1993] 2 Lloyd's Rep 559 (England & Wales, CA): a 'reasonable care' condition is breached only by recklessness
- Russian OSAGO law (40-ФЗ) art. 14(1): recourse against a driver who was intoxicated, refused a sobriety test, was not listed in the policy or drove outside the insured period
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Read 'Conditions' / «Обязанности страхователя» and comply visibly (alarm receipts, second key set)
- Buy the sports/«активный отдых» add-on
- Check whether the alcohol exclusion requires causation
- List all drivers (or «неограниченный круг лиц»), disclose ride-share/delivery use and buy the endorsement, check territorial and seasonal limits. Challenge denials: UK 'reasonable care' means recklessness (Sofi v Prudential 1993) and Insurance Act 2015 s.11
- FOS requires proof alcohol contributed
- RU: only intent releases the insurer (ст. 963 ГК, п. 49 Пленума ВС № 19/2024) — but since 2024 a contract may define theft-with-keys-left or an unlisted driver as outside the insured risk (п. 15), so check the risk definition, not just the exclusions.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.