Motorcycle insured in Milan stolen in Naples, company pays

Motorcycle - "Naples is a city which, until proven otherwise, is part of the national territory and not of a state with which relations are broken diplomatic“. With this motivation the judge of the court of Naples, XII civil section, condemned, with sentence dated 16 February 2017, an online insurance company that refused to pay an insured for the theft of a scooter on the grounds that this had occurred in Naples while the insured was resident in Milan.

The decision thus enters into the jurisprudence of the vexed question of territorial disparities in the insurance field. The company, in order to refuse compensation for the theft which occurred in Naples in 2009, has in fact explicitly declared, as stated in the reasons for the sentence"If it had been declared to her that the vehicle would circulate in Naples, she certainly would not have agreed to take out the policy. The judge also rejected the company's objection according to which at the time of the theft the vehicle was not used by the insured because the declarations of being the habitual user of the vehicle and of guaranteeing that he was resident in Milan "do not in any way prove denied, nor do they imply the sporadic unusability of the vehicle by third parties".

But the territorial question is the crux of the decision in the dispute: "The thesis according to which the... (name of the company omitted), if it had been declared that the vehicle would circulate in Naples, certainly would not have agreed to the stipulation of the policy, appears paradoxical to say the least, writes the judge, and in any case devoid of legal basis". The company was thus sentenced to compensate the insured for the value of the vehicle in addition to paying the court costs. "A verdict that also clears away prejudices against Neapolitan citizens - comments lawyer Angelo Pisani, the insured's lawyer - and explains simple concepts of geography, logic and correctness to the lobbies. With all due respect to all those who still today make attempts to discriminate against Neapolitans to obtain advantages. Now it is clear that even from Milan you can arrive and travel in Naples guaranteed and reimbursed".