Direct action of a third party against the insurer in marine insurance with a special focus on the developments in Croatian law

Abstract

The direct action is an action of an injured third party against the insurer of the wrongdoer's liability. As a general rule a contract of insurance of liability is a res inter alios acta, and the right of direct action can only be exceptionally granted by a statute. The direct action is virtually always granted when insurance is compulsory. Voluntary marine insurance of liability is provided through P&I Clubs based on mutuality and due to its specificity can hardly sustain a wide right of direct action. International maritime liability and compensation conventions largely introduce compulsory insurance and the right of direct action due to the growing social consciousness. The current reform of the Croatian Maritime Code deals with the issue of the direct action. The proposed solutions are critically approached.

Keywords

• direct action
• direktna tužba
• marine insurance
• insurance of liability
• compulsory insurance
• P and I Clubs
• pomorsko osiguranje
• osiguranje odgovornosti
• obvezno osiguranje