Disappearance Clause (Verschollenheitsklausel)

Purpose

The death benefit under accident insurance requires proof that the insured person died as a result of an accident. Where, after a shipwreck, aircraft crash, avalanche or disappearance while travelling, the body cannot be found, this proof could only be furnished after a court declaration of presumed death, which under the Swiss Civil Code or the German Act on Missing Persons takes months to years depending on the circumstances. The disappearance clause closes this gap through a contractual presumption of death: if the insured person disappeared during the operative time and, after expiry of the agreed period – typically twelve months, in some wordings after a “suitable period of time” – it is reasonable to assume that they died as a result of an insured bodily injury, the insurer pays the death benefit to the policyholder or the beneficiaries.

Effect and limits

Older wordings tie the presumption to the disappearance, sinking or wrecking of a conveyance in which the person was travelling; newer conditions cover disappearance “in any manner whatsoever” but then require a report to the local police and, for cases abroad, to the embassy or consulate of the country of residence, as well as an official death certificate where available. The central element is the written repayment undertaking (signed undertaking): the recipient undertakes to refund the amount received in full if it later transpires that the insured person is alive or did not die as a result of an accident. Without this declaration there is no entitlement.

Negotiation and practice

An express disappearance clause is rare in German and Austrian AUB/AUVB conditions, where the statutory declaration-of-death procedures apply. In international group personal accident and business travel programmes, by contrast, the clause is standard and is combined with the exposure clause and search and rescue expenses.

Jurisdictional comparison

Switzerland provides a judicial declaration-of-presumed-death procedure under Articles 35–38 of the Civil Code (one year after mortal danger, five years after last news); Germany regulates this in the Act on Missing Persons (sections 3–7 VerschG) with a similar staggering by general, maritime, aviation and mortal-danger disappearance. The contractual disappearance clause shortens these periods to a market-standard twelve months, effectively substituting for the judicial procedure for purposes of benefit payment.