THE LEGAL NATURE OF THE REINSURANCE CONTRACT

This article is an attempt to determine the place and role of the reinsurance contract in the reinsurance legislation in Russia. Insurance as a whole complex of protection of property interests of citizens, organizations and the state is an indispensable element of the economic and social systems of society. Among the insurance organizations, the proper development has such direction of insurance activity, as reinsurance, which is one of the methods of reducing and dividing insurance risk. The methodological basis of the article is a systematic approach combining structural functional, dialectical, and hermeneutical methods. Results of a research are at least two possible conclusions. First, taking the risk (concluding the insurance contract), the insurance company does not always have the ability to cover it, to pay possible insurance losses. Secondly, in this case, it applies for help to another insurance company (or a specialized reinsurance company), offering to divide the accepted risk. In the course of carrying out activities, the insurance company is at risk of a shortage of funds to meet payment obligations. Insurers use different ways to manage this risk. On the one hand, the insurer can raise tariffs, to tight the selection of insurance contracts, denying the insurance of customers, characterized by a high probability of losses on the insurance policy. Such measures can lead to the loss of the market and the flow-out of insurants to other insurance companies. Another way to manage risk is to reinsure contracts, which involves transferring part of the responsibility for the accepted risks to other insurance companies (reinsurers).