One of the country’s largest insurance companies, If, is now asking the Supreme Court for help in kicking the Hells Angels out as a customer. This is what rett24.no writes on Thursday. If recently lost the case in the Gulating Court of Appeal against the Hells Angels in Bergen. – If cannot be obliged to legitimize a criminal motorcycle community by insuring their clubhouse. The insurance company’s legal representative Nora Lund Lefdal then responded to rett24.no. The MC club’s lawyer Marius Wesenberg rejects the claim. – If has not provided any evidence that these are criminal clubs or criminal members. They have not made up for that. And there is also no reasonable or factual reason for the insurance company to terminate the insurance relationship, he says to news. If against three clubs It is not only the people of Bergen who feel the dissatisfaction of If. In 2019, the insurance contract was terminated for the Hells Angels clubs in Farsund in Sørlandet and Son outside Oslo. But can an insurance company deny these customers insurance? No, according to both the District Court and the Court of Appeal – and now the case will come before the Supreme Court, writes rett24.no today. Photo: Russel A. Daniels / Scanpix It is especially the association with the Hells Angels – referred to by the police as a 1% club – that makes it problematic for If. Facts about 1% clubs: 1% club is a term for a motorcycle club that defines itself as lawless, with its own laws and rules. Outlaws MC is a 1% club. Members of the Outlaws MC wear a diamond-shaped jacket badge that reads “1%”. The term originated after the 1947 Hollister, California motorcycle rally riots, where the American Motorcyclist Association reportedly stated that 99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding, implying that the last percent are lawless. Norway today has several 1% clubs: Gremium MC Hells Angels, Bandidos, Coffin Cheaters, Outlaws, Gladiators MC, Gypsy Joker, MC Vikings, Road Pirates MC, Rock Machine MC[3], Satudarah and Mongols Motorcycle Club. Sources: Wikipedia If grounds the dismissal with “the increased risk resulting from their activities, rivalry/conflicts between groups (…) laundering of illegal funds”. The motorcycle clubs took the dismissals to court. The first two won, with the support of the Financial Appeal Board, on all points in the Borgarting Court of Appeal. The MC club was also upheld in the judgment from the Gulating Court of Appeal about the premises in Bergen. Before Hells Angels they were called MC Norway – and before that Renegades. But the haunt has been the same for a long time. Photo: Nyhetsspiller The Bergen premises of MC Norway were insured before they joined the Hells Angels. The only thing that could remind them of anything else is the name of the place where they live: Helldalen in the district of Fana. The Insurance Contracts Act Section 1B-3 of the Insurance Contracts Act (refusal of insurance) states: The insurance company cannot, without a factual reason, refuse someone on normal terms an insurance that the company otherwise offers to the public. Circumstances that entail a particular risk shall be considered a factual reason, provided that there is a reasonable connection between the particular risk and the refusal. Other special circumstances constitute factual grounds when they result in the refusal not being considered unreasonable towards the individual But the central point in this case is that the insurance contracts have already been concluded, and then If uses this section as justification: § 3-5. (Notice from the insurance company that the insurance is not to be renewed) If the insurance company does not want the insurance to be renewed automatically, it must notify the policyholder of this no later than two months before the end of the insurance period. The notification must be given in a written document and must be justified. Otherwise, the insurance relationship is renewed for one year. The insurance company can only fail to renew an insurance policy under the first paragraph when there are special reasons that make it reasonable to terminate the insurance relationship. In the notification, the company must provide information about the right to use out-of-court dispute resolution schemes, possibly about other possibilities to try whether the company has the right to withhold renewal. But connection to the Hells Angels is not enough, the Court of Appeal believes. The judgment from Gulating states: “It has not been proven that the risk picture has changed significantly after the insurance was taken out in 2010. It is not sufficient to show that the motorcycle club changed its status to Hells Angels after the time of taking out the insurance. The club was incorporated into the Hells Angels as early as 2011, while If only changed its internal policy in 2019.” – If appeals the case. The court has based a too narrow interpretation of the term “special reasons”, Lefdal has told rett24.no. The judgment of the District Court and the Court of Appeal was so clear that we do not believe in any other result in the Supreme Court, says Wesenberg. He says this case raises the fundamental question of whether an insurance company can in certain cases terminate or refuse to renew an insurance contract.
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Hells Angels do not get insurance on the club premises – in Helldal (!) – news Vestland
