Beneficiary acceptance of a life insurance contract
The act by which the named beneficiary accepts the benefit of the contract, which then prevents the subscriber from changing it or surrendering without their consent.
A beneficiary designation remains revocable until the beneficiary has accepted: the subscriber can change their mind, surrender or pledge the contract. Acceptance freezes the situation, because it creates a right of the beneficiary's own, and the subscriber can no longer change the designation nor, in principle, surrender without their agreement. Long possible without the subscriber's knowledge, since 2007 it requires the subscriber's consent and a writing signed by the parties. The mechanism serves gifts meant to be irrevocable and loan guarantees, but it traps the subscriber who granted it without measuring its reach, and the insurer must check whether it exists before any surrender.
The French law of December 17, 2007 amended Article L. 132-9 of the Insurance Code: acceptance takes the form of an amendment signed by the insurer, the subscriber and the beneficiary, or of a deed notified to the insurer, and it can only take place once the thirty-day cancellation period has expired.
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