# Estonian Supreme Court: credit, guarantee and reinsurance

URL: https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court/credit-guarantee-and-reinsurance/
Author: Dr Olavi-Jüri Luik, Partner, Head of Insurance Law, attorney at law (Advokaadibüroo WIDEN OÜ)
Last updated: 2026-11-04

> Estonian Supreme Court (Riigikohus) case law on credit and guarantee insurance and reinsurance: English summaries with links.

This page is part of the [overview of Estonian Supreme Court insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court). It collects 2 decisions of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court (*Riigikohus*) on this topic, in chronological order, with a short synthesis of the direction of the case law. The summaries are written in our own words; the judgments themselves are available in Estonian only. Abbreviations and citation conventions are explained on the [overview page](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court#how-to-use-this-overview).

## Synthesis

Two early decisions concern lines of insurance on which there is no later Supreme Court case law. The guarantee insurance decision stresses the protection of the beneficiary against later agreements between policyholder and insurer; the reinsurance decision confirms that a reinsurance contract is not wholly independent of the underlying direct contracts and is interpreted according to the parties' actual intention. Both apply law in force before the VÕS.

## Decisions

### RKTKo 02.10.2002, 3-2-1-94-02

*Judgment* · paras 8, 10-11 · guarantee and credit insurance; beneficiary; amendment to co-insurance · *pre-VÕS law*

The insurer covered the seller's risk that the buyer would fail to pay for goods due to insolvency. A later agreement between the policyholder and the insurer purportedly converting the contract into co-insurance was not binding on the beneficiary. The purpose of the contract was to secure the beneficiary's claim, which could not be impaired without its participation.

[Judgment on riigikohus.ee (Estonian)](https://www.riigikohus.ee/et/lahendid?asjaNr=3-2-1-94-02)

### RKTKo 02.12.2003, 3-2-1-136-03

*Judgment* · paras 11-12 · reinsurance; international motor insurance; interpretation; actual intention · *pre-VÕS law*

The reinsurance contract could not be viewed separately from the reinsured international motor insurance contracts because its performance depended on the obligations arising from them; the motor insurance statute in force when the damage occurred therefore also applied. The appellate court had breached the rule of interpretation requiring reliance on the parties' actual intention.

[Judgment on riigikohus.ee (Estonian)](https://www.riigikohus.ee/et/lahendid?asjaNr=3-2-1-136-03)

## Related pages

- [Supreme Court of Estonia: overview of insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court)
- [Previous topic](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court/procedural-issues)
- [Estonian insurance contract law: overview](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/estonian-insurance-contract-law)
- [Glossary of Estonian insurance terms](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/glossary)