The applicant and beneficiary of life insurance are not necessarily the same person

It is often thought that "who insures, who benefits". In fact, this is a misunderstanding. In order to solve this misunderstanding, we must first understand what the applicant and beneficiary are.

The applicant is the one who applies for insurance and is also the one who has the obligation to pay the premium. The applicant should be an adult or a person with full capacity for civil conduct. Minors or persons without capacity for civil conduct can not be the applicant. The applicant can be a natural person or a legal person.

The beneficiary refers to the person who receives the death compensation of life insurance. It is necessary to designate the beneficiary for life insurance. When the insured dies, the beneficiary will receive the death compensation.

In May 2000, a factory in Hebei Province insured group life insurance from an insurance company. Wang, a worker of the factory, died in a traffic accident in March 2001. After the accident, the insurance company quickly made the decision to pay the insurance benefits. But who should I give the money to? The insurance company made a mistake. Originally, the insurance company found that the "beneficiary" specified in the policy was the insured unit, but the beneficiary Wang did not make a written approval.

According to the manufacturer, although Wang did not approve of it, he did not object to it, which should be regarded as acquiescence. And according to the practice of "who insures, who benefits", the compensation should of course be received by the manufacturer. So is that true?

Is there any legal basis for "who insures, who benefits" involved in this story? In fact, the policy holder has the obligation to pay for the insurance, but he does not necessarily have the right to receive the insurance money. There are certain conditions to obtain the beneficial right. Article 60 of the insurance law stipulates that the beneficiary of life insurance shall be designated by the insured or the applicant. The applicant must obtain the consent of the insured when appointing the beneficiary.

Thus, the insured may or may not be the beneficiary. It depends on whether the Insured agrees. For example, in the above case, if Wang agreed to the appointment of the unit, then the applicant is the beneficiary. Otherwise, there may be no designated beneficiary. If there is no designated beneficiary, according to the provisions of the insurance law, the insurance money should be regarded as the legacy of the insured, and the insurer should perform the obligation to pay the insurance money to the heir of the insured. In this case, the insurance money should be received by the family members of the deceased Wang as the estate of the insured.