On 7 December ILF attorneys represented Alpha Insurance in the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine, refuting dishonest demands made by one of their clients. The dispute arose when company X was denied compensation on the grounds that it forfeited the right to the insurance.

X, in secret from the insurance company, transferred ownership of an insured car to company Y. The failure to notify the insurance company about this is sufficient reason to deny compensation, so the representatives of Y returned the car to X under a lease contract and signed another contract with them on ceding the rights to insurance. Later on, armed with these documents, Y went to court demanding UAH 1 million.

The courts of first and appellate instances sided with X and Y, citing the fact that X retains insurable interest under the lease contract for the insured car, and Y can demand compensation based on the contract on ceding rights of claim.

In this particular case, X’s insurable interest was lost the moment they sold the car, therefore no transfer of rights was possible. Moreover, the car must be insured by its owner, not renter, which is why the return of the car under the lease contract couldn’t help X and Y.

In light of this and other evidence collected by ILF lawyers and taking into account legal precedents, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine sent the case for re-examination. Consequently, courts of all instances ruled in favor of Alpha Insurance. In the end, ILF lawyers Anna Zhebeleva and Andey Poddymai helped the client keep UAH 1 million.