Insurance

Our main areas of practice include:

• handling insurance disputes through both pre-trial and court proceedings;
• auditing insurance programmes;
• providing legal advice on a wide range of issues relating to insurance and reinsurance.

Our specialists provide comprehensive legal support, taking into account the specifics of international and Russian legislation, established insurance market practices, as well as current judicial and arbitration practice.

An extensive network of correspondents — including surveyors, loss adjusters and foreign consultants specialising in insurance disputes — enables us to provide prompt legal assistance to our clients practically anywhere in the world.

The practice is headed by Maria Krasnova, Partner of KIAP Law Firm, an expert with 20 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Maria’s professional activities include handling large-scale litigation, including in state courts, the International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) and the Maritime Arbitration Commission (MAC) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (RF CCI). Maria also serves as an arbitrator at the MAC at the RF CCI, the Arbitration Centre at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Russian Arbitration Centre.

The practice’s professional reputation is confirmed by high ratings in Russian rankings: for several consecutive years, we have been included in the highest, first group according to ‘Pravo-300’ and ‘Kommersant’ (2024–2026).

Insurance consulting:

• Advice on insurance legislation, including matters relating to the regulation of insurance market participants in the Russian Federation, reinsurance, sanctions restrictions in the insurance sector and other matters;
• Legal review of insurance contract terms at the stage of conclusion and assistance in their negotiation (analysis of the scope of insurance coverage, express and hidden exclusions from coverage);
• Advice on the occurrence of events that have the characteristics of an insured event, outlining the algorithm of actions for the parties when settling a loss;
• Legal support at the stage of loss settlement, preparation of documents required for settlement, and conducting negotiations at the pre-trial stage with a view to promptly obtaining insurance compensation in the claimed amount.

Insurance audit:

• Legal review of existing insurance contracts and contracts at the stage of their conclusion, focusing on the most significant issues:
  
• analysis of the scope of insurance coverage;
• express and hidden exclusions from coverage;
• procedure and time limits for loss settlement;
• method for determining the amount of insurance compensation;
• proposals for amending contractual terms that are unfavorable to the policyholder (taking into account current case law).

Dispute resolution:  

• Representation of clients in court and arbitration disputes, including in foreign jurisdictions;
• Legal assistance at the stage of enforcement of judicial acts and arbitral awards, including in respect of foreign legal entities.

Insurance forensic/Expert review