General characteristics of the insurance contract
1- The insurance contract is binding:
Theinsurance contract arranges corresponding obligations over an
obstacle imposed by the insurer and the insured. The insured is
obligated to pay insurance premiums according to what is imposed
on him by the nature of the contract, while the insurer is obligated
to cover the accident that occurs or may not occur because it is a
potential risk, with an exception, according to the opinion of some,
which appears in the life insurance contract in the event of death
because the insurer’s obligation in this contract
is a confirmed obligation.
2- The insurance contract is a time contract:
The time contract is defined by legal scholars as a contract in
which time is an essential element, such that it is the standard by
which the subject of the contract is estimated.
The element of time or duration is one of the basic elements of the
insurance contract, as it is practically inconceivable that an
insurance contract can be concluded without specifying a period
for the validity of the coverage contained therein.
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The time frame is the extent to which the two parties to the
contract are committed to the terms and obligations it contains. So
that the insurer can refrain from bearing the consequences of the
occurrence of the risk (compensation) if the insured accident
occurs outside this time frame, and the insured can also bear his
obligations derived from the insurance contract after the expiry of
its term (unless those obligations were created before the end of
the period). The duration of the contract is like the obligation to
pay the insurance premium.
The consequence of the insurance contract being a temporary contract is
that if the contract is terminated before the end of its term, it will not be
dissolved retroactively, but rather it will be dissolved from the day of
termination, and what was executed before that will remain in effect,
meaning that the claims of both parties before the termination remain
valid, and therefore the insured will not recover the installments he paid
because they were in exchange for bearing the risk during the period that
elapsed before the contract was terminated.
3- An insurance contract is a compensation contract.
The obligations of the two parties in the insurance contract confirm
this characteristic, as each party takes in exchange for what it
gives. The insurer is obligated to pay the risk in exchange for the
premiums that the insured pays to him, and the insured pays the
premiums in exchange for averting the risk to which the insurer is
committed.
4- The insurance contract is a consensual contract (one of the
elements of which is consent):
It is concluded as soon as the two wills agree to create the
obligation, and despite the formal conditions required by this
contract, they are for proof, not for conclusion. In this regard, we
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point out that the insurance contract may be a mandatory contract,
as this often happens in compulsory insurance against car
accidents, air insurance, etc