Law No. 93-40 of July 20, 1993, Establishing the Insurance Code

Source JO N° 812 of 15/08/1993. Page 1
Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Honor - Fraternity - Justice
Law No. 93-40 of July 20, 1993
Establishing
The Insurance Code
Published in the Official Journal of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania No. 812 of August 15, 1993

Source JO N° 812 of 15/08/1993. Page 2
The National Assembly and the Senate have adopted, The President of the Republic promulgates the law whose text follows BOOK 1: INSURANCE OPERATIONS.
Article 1: Scope of Application of the Code.
The rules contained in this Code apply to all insurance operations governed by Mauritanian law. - Rules not contained in this Code that might conflict with it are deemed not written. - Contractual stipulations contrary to the mandatory rules established by the Code are deemed not written. - The provisions of Titles I, II, and III of this Book, other than those granting the parties a simple option, cannot be modified by contract.

Article 2: Primacy of Specific Provisions.
Specific provisions for certain types of insurance prevail in case of conflict over provisions common to all insurance.

Article 3: Definitions.
The insurance contract is the agreement concerning an operation by which one party, the insured, promises, in exchange for remuneration or a premium, a benefit from another party, the insurer, in the event of the realization of a risk. Co-insurance is the operation in which several insurers cover the same risk jointly but without joint liability. Reinsurance refers to the contract by which the insurer or cedant transfers to another person, the reinsurer or assignee, all or part of the risks that he has personally insured. In all cases where the insurer reinsures against the risk he has insured, he remains solely liable towards the insured.

Article 4: Insurable Interest.
Any person having an interest in the preservation of a thing may have it insured; any direct or indirect interest in the non-realization of a risk may be the subject of insurance.

TITLE 1: RULES COMMON TO ALL INSURANCES.
Chapter 1: The Contract.
Section 1: Conclusion, Form, Proof of the Insurance Contract, and Transmission of Policies.

Article 5: Insurance Amount for Account.
Insurance may be contracted for a general or specific amount or even without a contract, for the account of a determined person. In the latter case, the insurance benefits the person for whose account it was concluded, even if ratification occurs only after the loss. Insurance may also be contracted for the account of whomever it may concern. The clause serves both as insurance or benefit for the policyholder and as a stipulation for another in favor of the known or potential beneficiary of said clause. The policyholder of an insurance contracted for the account of whomever it may concern is solely liable for the payment of the premium to the insurer; the exceptions that the insurer could oppose to him are also opposable to the beneficiary of the contract, whoever he may be.

Source JO N° 812 of 15/08/1993. Page 3 whose account it was concluded, even if ratification occurs only after the loss.
Insurance may also be contracted for the account of whomever it may concern. The clause serves both as insurance or benefit for the policyholder and as a stipulation for another in favor of the known or potential beneficiary of said clause. The policyholder of an insurance contracted for the account of whomever it may concern is solely liable for the payment of the premium to the insurer; the exceptions that the insurer could oppose to him are also opposable to the beneficiary of the contract, whoever he may be.

Article 6: Insurance Proposal, Modification of Contract.
The insurance proposal is a written offer from the policyholder that binds him only from the acceptance of the insurer. A proposal made by registered letter to extend or modify a contract or reinstate a suspended contract is considered accepted if the insurer does not refuse this proposal within fifteen days after it reaches him. The insurer must obligatorily provide an information sheet on the price and coverage before the conclusion of the contract. Before the conclusion of the contract, the insurer provides the insured with a copy of the draft contract and the insured items or an information notice on the contract that precisely describes the coverage along with exclusions as well as the obligations of the insured.

Article 7: Proof of Contract, Endorsement, Cover Note.
The insurance contract is drawn up in writing. Any addition or modification of the original insurance contract must be recorded by an endorsement signed by the parties.
These provisions do not prevent that, even before the issuance of the policy or the endorsement, the insurer and the insured are bound to each other by the delivery of a cover note.

Article 8: Form of Policies and Mandatory Mentions.
The insurance policy must be drawn up in Arabic and French, in simple terms and in legible characters. Ambiguous clauses are interpreted in favor of the insured, the insurer assuming responsibility for poor drafting of the contract. Clauses binding on the insured, such as those establishing nullities or providing for forfeiture, and those outlining indemnification rules, must be highlighted. The insurance policy is dated the day it is drawn up. It must obligatorily indicate:

• The names and domiciles of the contracting parties
• The thing or person insured
• The nature of the guaranteed risks
• The status of the experts or commissioners called upon to intervene in case of loss
• The time from which the risk is guaranteed and the duration of the coverage.
• The amount of the coverage
• The premium or insurance contribution.
• The cases and conditions of propagation
• The cases and conditions of termination

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• The obligations of the insured at subscription and during the contract regarding the declaration of the nature of the risk, the declaration of other insurances taken out on the same risk, and sanctions.
• The conditions and procedures for the declaration to be made in case of loss and the sanctions in case of failure to declare.
• The deadlines within which the insurer must make a settlement proposal as well as those within which the indemnity must be paid.
• The procedure and principles leading to the determination of the indemnity.
• The statute of limitations for the action for indemnification as well as the cases of interruption and suspension of said limitation.

Section 2: Reciprocal Obligations of Insurers and the Insured.
Article 9: Obligations of the Insured.
The Insured is obliged:

1. to answer exactly the questions posed by the insurer, notably in the risk declaration form by which the insurer interrogates him at the conclusion of the contract on circumstances that are likely to allow the insurer to assess the risks he undertakes.
   Any concealment or false declaration of risk entails, when intentional, the nullity of the contract, the premiums paid then becoming acquired to the insurer. When the false declaration is not intentional, it entails, before any loss, a judgment on the premium or, in case of refusal of this adjustment by the insured, termination of the contract ten days after notification by registered letter. The portion of the premium paid for the time during which the insurance no longer runs must be returned to the insured. In the case where the discovery of the false declaration occurs only after a loss, the indemnity is reduced in proportion to the rate of premiums paid relative to the rate that would have been due if the risks had been exactly declared;
2. to declare during the contract, new circumstances that have the consequence of either aggravating the risks or creating new ones and thereby render the answers given to the insurer inaccurate or obsolete, notably in the form mentioned in 1) above.
   The insured must, by registered letter, declare these circumstances to the insurer within a period of fifteen days from the moment he had knowledge of them.
3. to notify the insurer, as soon as he has knowledge and or later within the period fixed by the contract, of any loss likely to trigger the insurer's coverage. This period cannot be less than five working days. This minimum period is reduced to two working days in case of theft and to twenty-four hours in case of livestock mortality.
   The above periods may be extended by mutual agreement between the contracting parties.
   When provided for by a clause of the contract, the forfeiture for late declaration regarding the periods provided for in 2) and 3) above cannot be opposed to the insured unless the insurer establishes that the delay in declaration caused him prejudice. It cannot also be opposed in all cases where the delay is due to a fortuitous event or force majeure;

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4) to pay the premium or contribution at the agreed times. The premium is payable at the domicile of the insurer or the agent designated by him for this purpose.
In the absence of payment of a premium, or a fraction of a premium, within ten days of its due date, and independently of the right of the insurer to pursue the execution of the contract in court, the coverage cannot be suspended except thirty days after the formal notice to the insured made by registered letter addressed to him or the person in charge of paying the premium at their last known domicile of the insurer. In the case where the annual premium has been split, the suspension of coverage resulting from non-payment of one of the fractions of the premium produces its effects until the expiration of the considered annual period. The premium or fraction of the premium is portable in all cases after the formal notice to the insured. The insured has the right to terminate the contract ten days after the expiration of the thirty-day period mentioned in the second paragraph of this article. The contract not terminated resumes its effects for the future, at noon the day after the overdue premium has been paid to the insurer or the agent designated by him for this purpose or in case of splitting of the annual premium, the fractions of the premium that were the subject of the formal notice and those that came due during the suspension period as well as potentially the costs of pursuit and recovery.

Article 10: Obligations of the Insurer.
Upon the realization of the risk or at the expiration of the contract, the insurer must execute within the agreed period the benefit determined by the contract and cannot be held liable beyond that. At each premium due date, the insurer is required to notify the insured or the person in charge of paying premiums and the amount of the sum he owes.

Section 3: Duration of the Contract, Termination, Modification of Risk, Transmission of the Contract, End of Contract, Disappearance of the Insured Thing, Bankruptcy or Judicial Liquidation.
Article 11: Duration of the Contract, Tacit Renewal, Termination
The duration of the contract and the conditions of termination are fixed by the insurance policy.
However, the insured has the right to terminate the contract annually with one month's notice. Termination can be done either by a declaration made against receipt at the registered office or at the domicile of its representative or by registered letter, or by any other means indicated in the policy. The right of termination belongs under the same conditions to the insurer. It runs from the date appearing on the postmark. The insurance contract may be tacitly renewed. The duration of the tacit renewal cannot exceed one year.

Article 12: Modification of Risk.
In case of aggravation of the risk during the contract, such that if the new circumstances had been declared at the conclusion or renewal of the contract, the insurer would not have contracted or would have done so only for a higher premium, the insurer has the option either to denounce the contract or to propose a new premium amount.

Source JO N° 812 of 15/08/1993. Page 6
In the first case, termination cannot take effect until ten days after notification and the insurer must then refund to the insured the portion of the premium or contribution related to the period during which the risk did not run. In the second case, if the insured does not follow up on the insurer's proposal or expressly refuses the new amount within thirty days from the proposal, the insurer may terminate the contract at the end of this period provided he has informed the insured of this option, having it appear in prominent characters in the proposal letter. However, the insurer can no longer rely on the aggravation of risks when, after having been informed in any manner, he has manifested his consent to the maintenance of the insurance, especially by continuing to receive premiums or by paying an indemnity after a loss. The insured has the right in case of decrease of the risk during the contract to a decrease in the amount of the premium. If the insurer does not consent, the insured may denounce the contract. Termination then takes effect thirty days after the denunciation. The insurer must then refund to the insured the portion of the premium or contribution related to the period during which the risk did not run. The insurer must recall the provisions of this article to the insured when the latter informs him, either of an aggravation or a decrease of risk. The provisions of this article are not applicable to health insurance when the health status of the insured is modified. In case of the occurrence of one of the following events:

• Change of domicile
• Change of profession
• Professional retirement or definitive cessation of professional activity,
  The insurance contract may be terminated by either party when its object is the guarantee of risks in direct relation with the previous situation and which are not found in the new situation.
  Termination can only occur within three months following the date of the event.
  Termination takes effect one month after the other party to the contract has received notification.
  The insurer must refund to the insured the part of the premium or contribution corresponding to the period during which the risk did not run, a period calculated from the effective date of the termination.
  No payment of an indemnity to the insurer can be provided for in the aforementioned cases of termination.
  The date on which the termination period is open to the insured due to the occurrence of one of the events provided for above is the date on which the new situation arises.
  However, in case of professional retirement or definitive cessation of professional activity, the starting point of the period is the day following the date on which the previous situation ends.
  When any of the events is constituted or established by a judicial decision, the date retained is the date on which this judicial act becomes final.

Article 13: End of Contract in Case of Total Loss of the Insured Thing.
In case of total loss of the insured thing resulting from an event not provided for by the policy, the insurance ends by operation of law and the insurer refunds to the insured the portion of the premium paid in advance and related to the time for which the risk no longer runs.

Article 14: Transmission of the Contract in Case of Death or Alienation of the Insured Thing.
In case of death of the insured or alienation of the insured thing, the insurance continues by operation of law in favor of the heir or the purchaser, provided that the latter executes all the obligations of which the insured is bound towards the insurer under the contract. It is permissible, however, either for the insurer or for the heir to terminate the contract. The insurer may terminate the contract within a period of three months from the day when the definitive assignee of the insured objects requested the transfer of the policy to his name. Termination is made by registered letter.

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In case of alienation of the insured thing, the one who alienates remains liable to the insurer for the payment of due premiums, but he is released, even as guarantor for future premiums, from the moment he has informed the insurer of the alienation by registered letter. When there are several heirs and several purchasers, if the insurance continues, they are jointly liable for the payment of premiums. No payment of an indemnity to the insurer can be provided for in the aforementioned cases of termination. The provisions of this article are not applicable in the case of alienation of a motor land vehicle.

Article 15: Disposition at the Time of the Contract of the Insured Thing.
The insurance is null if, at the time of the contract, the insured thing has already perished or can no longer be exposed to risks.
The premiums paid must be returned to the insured, deducting the expenses incurred by the insurer, other than commission fees, when these latter have been recovered by the agent or broker.
In the case mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, the party whose bad faith is proven must pay the other a sum double of one year's premium.

Article 16: Termination after Loss.
In the case where a policy provides for the insurer the option to terminate the contract after loss, the termination cannot take effect until the expiration of a period of one month from the notification to the insured. The insurer who, past the one-month period after he has knowledge of the loss, has accepted the payment of a premium or contribution or a fraction of premium or contribution corresponding to an insurance period starting after the loss can no longer rely on this loss to terminate the contract. In the case provided for in the first paragraph above, the policies must recognize to the insured the right, within a period of one month from the notification of the termination of the damaged policy, to terminate the other insurance contracts he may have taken out with the insurer, the termination taking effect one month from the notification to the insurer.

The option of termination open to the insurer and to the insured by application of the two preceding paragraphs, involves restitution by the insurer of the portions of premiums and contributions related to the period for which the risks are no longer covered.

Article 17: Subsistence of Insurance in Case of Bankruptcy or Judicial Liquidation of the Insured.
The insurance subsists in case of bankruptcy or judicial liquidation of the insured.
The liquidator retains the right to terminate the contract during a period of three months from the date of bankruptcy or judicial liquidation. The portion of premium related to the time during which the insurer no longer covers the risk is returned to the debtor.

Chapter 2: Indemnification and Actions Arising from the Insurance Contract.
Section 1: General Principles of Indemnification
Article 18: Indemnity Principle.
Insurance relating to goods is a contract of indemnity, the indemnity due by the insurer cannot exceed the amount of the value of the insured thing at the time of the loss.
It may be stipulated that the insured remains obligatorily his own insurer for a determined sum or quota, or that he bears a deduction fixed in advance on the loss indemnity.

Article 19: Over-insurance.
When an insurance contract has been consented for a sum superior to the value of the insured thing, if there was fraud or deceit by one of the parties, the other party may request its nullity and claim damages and interest in addition. If there was neither fraud nor deceit, the contract is valid but only up to the real value of the insured objects and the insurer has no right to premiums for the excess. Only the due premiums remain definitively acquired to him, as well as the premium of the current year when it is due.

Article 20: Cumulative Insurance.
He who is insured with several insurers by several policies, for the same [risk], against the same risk, must immediately inform each insurer of the other insurers.
The insured must, during this communication, state the name of the insurer with whom another insurance was contracted and indicate the insured sum.
When several insurances against the same risk are contracted in a deceitful or fraudulent manner, the sanctions provided for in Article 19 first paragraph are applicable.
When they are contracted without fraud, each of them produces its effects within the limits of the coverage of the contract and in respect of the provisions of Article 18, whatever the date at which the insurance was taken out. Within these limits, the beneficiary of the contract may obtain indemnification of his damages by addressing himself to the insurer of his choice.

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In the relations between insurers, the contribution of each of them is determined by applying to the amount of the damage the ratio existing between the indemnity he would have paid if he had been alone and the cumulative amount of the indemnities that would have been paid by each insurer if he had been alone.

Article 21: Under-insurance.
If it results from the estimates that the value of the insured thing exceeds on the day of the loss the guaranteed sum, the insured is considered to remain his own insurer for the excess, and consequently bears a proportional part of the damage unless otherwise agreed.

Article 22: Inherent Vice of the Insured Thing.
The waste, diminutions, and losses suffered by the insured thing and which originate from its inherent vice are not at the charge of the insurer, unless otherwise agreed.

Article 23: Exclusion of War Risks.
Insurance does not cover, unless otherwise agreed, losses and damages occasioned either by foreign war, or by civil war, or by riots or by popular movements.

Article 24: Subrogation of the Insurer.
The insurer who has paid the insurance indemnity is subrogated, up to the amount of this indemnity, into the rights and actions of the insured against third parties who, by their act, caused the damage giving rise to the liability of the insurer. The insurer may be discharged, in whole or in part, of his liability towards the insured when subrogation can no longer, by the fact of the insured, operate in favor of the insurer. By derogation from the preceding provisions, the insurer has no recourse against children, descendants, ascendants in the direct line, employees, workers or servants, and generally any person living in the household of the insured, except in the case of malice committed by one of these persons.

Article 25: Absence of Coverage of Losses Occurring after Expiration or During Suspension of the Contract.
Losses occurring after expiration or during suspension of the contract are not covered by the insurer.

Article 26: Expiration or Intentional or Fraudulent Fault of the Insured.
Losses and damages occasioned by fortuitous cases or caused by the fault of the insured are at the charge of the insurer, unless formal and limited exclusion contained in the policy.
However, the insurer does not cover losses and damages originating from an intentional or fraudulent fault of the insured.

Article 27: Intentional or Non-Intentional False Declaration of Risk.
When the insured has made an intentional, an inaccurate declaration of risk, no indemnity is due pa