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19 Ramadan 1445     29 March 2024

Skip Navigation LinksNews24012016 Finance Lease Law Enforceability

Finance Lease Law Enforceability

1/25/2016

(Finance Lease Law was issued by Royal Decree No. (M/48) dated 13/8/1433H and its Implementing Regulations by H.E. Governor Decision No. (1) dated 14/4/1434H. Companies and establishments practicing finance activities in the Kingdom (including those practicing finance lease), have been granted under the Insurance Companies Control Law and Ministerial Resolution No. (259) dated 12/8/1433H and before the enforceability of this Law, an extendable grace period of two years to comply with the provisions of this Law. However, the grace period has not been extended. The consultants of the Committees' Secretariat General have prepared internal studies to clarify the effects of the law and the provisions on settling disputes arising from insurance contracts for researches who study insurance cases in the period following the given grace period. The mentioned studies were submitted to committees. Perhaps, the most important part in the Finance Lease Law is what is stated in Paragraph (3) of Article 19 of the Implementing Regulations stipulating that: (The lessor shall be entitled to insurance indemnity, if any). Based on which and pursuant to the requirement of availability of capacity or interest to file cases before committees and in accordance with the operation rules of committees, committees decided not to accept cases filed by lessees before Insurance Disputes and Violations Settlement Committees, whether in cases of claims for partial or total damages of the leased asset (Own Damages) due to the absence of the capacity of lessee. The law stated that the lessor is the one entitled to insurance indemnity and he/she is responsible for insuring the asset which is the subject of finance lease. Agreeing on transferring this commitment to the lessee is not allowed. Accordingly, the lessor, not the lessee, has the capacity and insurance interest to file a case to claim insurance indemnity. However, the above mentioned shall not preclude the right of the lessee to file a case to require the insurance company to pay the civil responsibility compensations to those affected by what may be caused by the lessee, such as, death, injury or material damages to others when using the leased asset (Third Party Liabilities) since the lessee in this type of cases is insured according to Civil Liability Insurance Policy against third party).