Commercial Insurance Law WP-PR-MON-PUG
The course "Commercial Insurance Law" is a comprehensive study of the legal rules governing the functioning of the insurance market in Poland and in the European Union. The aim of the lecture is to acquaint students both with the civil-law dimension of insurance relationships (contract law) and with the public-law regime of financial market supervision (institutional law). The course combines theoretical knowledge with an analysis of the practical aspects of business, preparing students to operate in a heavily regulated financial services sector.
The programme is designed to deepen knowledge gradually – from general issues to the detailed institutions of insurance law.
First, the lecture introduces the foundations of commercial insurance, showing its evolution, economic functions and basic classifications. The boundary between commercial insurance and the social insurance system is clearly drawn. Students learn the conceptual framework necessary for the correct interpretation of insurance law.
The central point of the civil-law part of the lecture is the doctrine of the insurance contract (Articles 805–834 of the Civil Code) as the source of the insurance relationship. This block analyses general terms and conditions of insurance (GTC) and the status of the consumer on the insurance services market, with particular regard to the mechanisms protecting the consumer as the weaker party. This part is complemented by the regime of compulsory insurance (inter alia motor third-party liability insurance).
A considerable part of the programme is devoted to the organisational and institutional dimension of insurance business. The lecture analyses the permitted legal forms of insurance undertakings (joint-stock company, mutual insurance society, European company) and the rules of insurance distribution, clearly distinguishing the roles, rights and duties of the insurance agent and the insurance broker. The programme also covers mergers and insolvency of insurance undertakings and portfolio transfer.
An important element of the lecture is placing the Polish market in the international and EU context: the rules governing foreign insurance undertakings, cross-border insurance and the EU freedoms of establishment and provision of services (the Solvency II system). The picture of the market is completed by an analysis of protective and guarantee institutions (including the Insurance Guarantee Fund and the Financial Ombudsman) and of the supervision exercised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).
The lecture closes with a discussion of the evolution of commercial insurance law: current trends in case law and the prospects of legislative change at national and European level.
On completion, the student has thorough knowledge of the functioning of the insurance market, knows the rules for interpreting insurance contracts and GTC, understands the liability of insurance market entities and the legal position of the policyholder, the insured and the injured party, as well as the influence of EU law on the national legal order and the powers of the supervisory authorities.
(in Polish) Dyscyplina naukowa, do której odnoszą się efekty uczenia się
(in Polish) E-Learning
Term 2019/20_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) | Term 2020/21_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2025/26_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2026/27_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy |
(in Polish) Grupa przedmiotów ogólnouczenianych
Course coordinators
(in Polish) Opis nakładu pracy studenta w ECTS
Term 2025/26_Z: (in Polish) Godziny zajęć (wg planu studiów) z nauczycielem 30
Konsultacje z nauczycielem 16
Praca własna studenta 74
SUMA GODZIN 120
SUMARYCZNA LICZBA PUNKTÓW ECTS DLA PRZEDMIOTU 4
| Term 2026/27_Z: Participation in lectures: 30 h
Reading of the literature, analysis of legal acts and case law: 35 h
Preparation for the examination: 30 h
Consultations with the lecturer: 5 h
Total: 100 h
Number of ECTS credits: 100 h / 25 h = 4 ECTS |
Subject level
Learning outcome code/codes
Type of subject
Term 2019/20_Z: optional with limited choices | Term 2020/21_Z: obligatory | Term 2025/26_Z: obligatory | Term 2026/27_Z: obligatory |
Preliminary Requirements
Learning outcomes
The monographic lecture pursues learning outcomes in the area of knowledge.
EW1 (PR_W02) — The student lists and characterises the sources and nature of the norms of commercial insurance law in historical and contemporary perspective, in relation to other courses in the curriculum.
EW2 (PR_W03) — The student discusses the process by which the norms and institutions of commercial insurance law have developed in the history of Poland and the world.
EW3 (PR_W04) — The student explains the structure of, and the way in which, the legal institutions characteristic of commercial insurance arise and operate, as well as the relations between these institutions with reference to private law and public economic law.
EW4 (PR_W06) — The student classifies legal concepts and relationships within commercial insurance law, identifies the interdependencies between them and lists the information technologies and search systems used to obtain information about them.
EW5 (PR_W07) — The student characterises the methods and tools, including information technologies, used for creating and interpreting the norms of commercial insurance law.
Assessment criteria
Form and conditions of assessment
The monographic lecture ends with a written examination consisting of 5 descriptive or problem questions. A pass requires correct answers to at least 3 of the 5 questions. The final grade for the lecture is based solely on the examination result.
Grading: 3 correct answers – grade 3.0; 4 correct answers – grade 4.0; 5 correct answers – grade 5.0. Grades 3.5 and 4.5 are awarded where, respectively, the fourth or the fifth answer is only partially correct. Fewer than 3 correct answers – grade 2.0.
The resit examination is held under the same rules.
General grade descriptors (applied to each learning outcome EW verified by the examination)
Grade 2.0 — the student has not achieved the learning outcome: does not know the basic concepts and institutions covered by the outcome.
Grade 3.0 — the student knows the basic concepts and institutions in general outline, but is unable to indicate the relations between them or to place them in a broader systemic context.
Grade 3.5 — the student knows the concepts and institutions to a satisfactory degree and notices the relations between them, but analyses them in a reproductive manner.
Grade 4.0 — the student knows and understands the concepts and institutions, correctly indicates their systemic relations and the current tendencies de lege lata.
Grade 4.5 — the student demonstrates good, systematised knowledge, moves freely among the institutions and refers to selected case law and scholarly views.
Grade 5.0 — the student demonstrates complete, systematised knowledge, independently and critically assesses the regulation with reference to the case law of the Supreme Court and legal scholarship, and formulates assessments de lege ferenda.
Learning outcomes verified: EW1 (PR_W02), EW2 (PR_W03), EW3 (PR_W04), EW4 (PR_W06), EW5 (PR_W07) – as described in the field "Learning outcomes".
Bibliography
Required reading:
D. Fuchs, K. Malinowska, D. Maśniak (eds), Kontrakty w ubezpieczeniach, Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2020;
E. Kowalewski, Umowa ubezpieczenia, Bydgoszcz–Toruń 2002.
Supplementary reading:
E. Kowalewski, Prawo ubezpieczeń gospodarczych, Bydgoszcz–Toruń 2002 (or a later edition);
Z. Łabno, Prawo ubezpieczeń gospodarczych, Katowice 2001;
J. Monkiewicz (ed.), Podstawy ubezpieczeń, vols 1 and 2, Warszawa 2001;
A. Tadla, Umowa ubezpieczenia na życie, Warszawa 2000;
H. Ogrodnik (ed.), Teoria i praktyka ubezpieczeń gospodarczych, Katowice 2000;
B. Kęszycka, Prawo ubezpieczeń gospodarczych, Poznań 1999;
M. Fras, Umowa ubezpieczenia grupowego. Aspekty prawne, Warszawa 2015.
Legal acts (as currently in force):
ustawa z dnia 23 kwietnia 1964 r. – Kodeks cywilny (art. 805–834);
ustawa z dnia 11 września 2015 r. o działalności ubezpieczeniowej i reasekuracyjnej;
ustawa z dnia 22 maja 2003 r. o ubezpieczeniach obowiązkowych, Ubezpieczeniowym Funduszu Gwarancyjnym i Polskim Biurze Ubezpieczycieli Komunikacyjnych;
ustawa z dnia 15 grudnia 2017 r. o dystrybucji ubezpieczeń;
ustawa z dnia 21 lipca 2006 r. o nadzorze nad rynkiem finansowym;
ustawa z dnia 22 maja 2003 r. o nadzorze ubezpieczeniowym i emerytalnym;
ustawa z dnia 5 sierpnia 2015 r. o rozpatrywaniu reklamacji przez podmioty rynku finansowego, o Rzeczniku Finansowym i o Funduszu Edukacji Finansowej;
dyrektywa Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady 2009/138/WE (Wypłacalność II); dyrektywa Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady (UE) 2016/97 w sprawie dystrybucji ubezpieczeń (IDD).
Notes
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Term 2026/27_Z:
Office hours and their venue are published on the lecturer's profile in USOSweb. Current organisational information is provided via MS Teams. Students granted an Individual Organisation of Studies are requested to contact the lecturer at the beginning of the semester. |
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: