The article 1923 of the Civil Code stipulates that, subject to specified exceptions, the sums owed by the insurer to the policyholder or beneficiary in the case of a life policy may not be subject to enforcement or precautionary action. But the jurisprudential reality is more multifaceted: let us look at the main guidelines together.
1. Basic principle and welfare purpose
- La United Sections of the Supreme Court (No 8271/2008) clarified that the rule protects the function pension and savings of life insurance policies, as part of the 'third pillar' of social security
- Recently (Court of Cassation No. 9418/2024), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that even the unit-linked, with a financial component, may be seizable if they have a social security purpose
2. Distinction between pension and financial policies
- Le purely financial policies (pure unit-linked, index-linked without minimum guarantee) do not fall under the protection of Art. 1923are equated with financial investments and, therefore, only unenforceable if they guarantee a demographic or social security element
- For instance, Criminal Court of Cassation No. 47012/2017 and Court of Milan (2014) admitted the foreclosure of redemption-oriented policiesexcluded from the social security function
3. Practical example: Court of Ascoli Piceno 146/2024
- In a recent case (Court of Ascoli Piceno, Judgment No. 146/2024), it was established the ordinary prohibition of attachment for the amount due under the policy legitimately determined as "claims against the insurer".
- The Court reiterated the scope of the constitutive principle: 'the principles of protection of welfare and savings... constitute a constitutional relevance
4. Residual limits of distrainability
- Paragraph 2 of Art. 1923 of the Civil Code maintains except for actions for revocation (ordinary/bankruptcy)If the premiums paid are detrimental to creditors, these sums can be recovered.
Furthermore, in criminallife insurance policies can be subject to preventive seizure or confiscation for criminal purposes: forfeitability does not apply to criminal precautionary measures
