Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 83 - INSURANCE (§§ 83-1-1 — 83-NEW-004) › Chapter 5 - GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATIVE TO INSURANCE AND INSURANCE COMPANIES (§§ 83-5-1 — 83-5-877) › Article 4 - "INSURABLE INTEREST" REQUIREMENTS (§§ 83-5-251 — 83-5-257) › Section 83-5-251 - Procurer of insurance must have insurable interest; insurable interest defined; insurer reliance on applicant's representations; insurable interest of charitable, etc. organization

(1)
Any individual of competent legal capacity may procure or effect an insurance contract upon his own life or body for the benefit of any person, but no person shall procure or cause to be procured any insurance contract upon the life or body of another individual unless the benefits under such contract are payable to the insured or his personal representatives or to a person having, at the time when such contract was made, an insurable interest in the insured.
(2)
If the beneficiary, assignee or other payee under any contract made in violation of this section receives from the insurer any benefits from such contract accruing upon the death, disablement or injury of the insured, the insured or his executor or administrator may maintain an action to recover such benefits from the person so receiving them.
(3)
For purposes of Sections
83-5-251
through
83-5-257
, "insurable interest" means that a person has an insurable interest in the life, body and health of another individual as follows:
(a)
The individual and the insured are related closely by blood or by law, a substantial interest engendered by love and affection;
(b)
The person has a lawful and substantial economic interest in having the life, health or bodily safety of the insured continue, as distinguished from an interest which would arise only by, or would be enhanced in value by, the death, disablement or injury of the insured;
(c)
A party to a contract or option for the purchase or sale of an interest in a business proprietorship, partnership or firm, or of shares of stock of a closed corporation or of an interest in such shares, has an insurable interest in the life, body and health of each individual party to such contract and for the purposes of such contract only, in addition to any insurable interest which may exist as to such individual;
(d)
A person has a lawful interest in having the funeral expenses of the insured paid through insurance, provided the insured has knowledge of such insurance; and
(e)
Any religious, educational, eleemosynary, charitable or benevolent institution or its agency may be named beneficiary in any policy of life insurance issued by any insurance company upon the life of any individual. A religious, educational, eleemosynary, charitable or benevolent institution or its agency designated as a beneficiary has an insurable interest for the full face of the policy and is entitled to collect the full face of the policy. Such institutions named as beneficiaries in policies issued before July 1, 1992, shall have an insurable interest for the full face of the policy and are entitled to collect the full face of the policy.
(4)
An insurer shall be entitled to rely upon all reasonable statements, declarations and representations made by an applicant for insurance relative to the existence of an insurable interest; and no insurer shall incur legal liability except as set forth in the policy, by virtue of any untrue statements, declarations or representations so relied upon in good faith by the insurer.
(5)
"Person" as used herein means artificial as well as natural persons, includes all public and private corporations as well as individuals, and includes a trust whose principal beneficiaries have an "insurable interest" as used herein. Any trust with policies issued after July 1, 1992, shall be deemed persons under this section.
Laws, 1992, ch. 522, § 1; Laws, 1993, ch. 400, § 1, eff. 3/15/1993.