# Estonian Supreme Court: procedure in insurance disputes

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

> Estonian Supreme Court (Riigikohus) insurance case law: procedural issues in insurance disputes. Summaries in English 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

The procedural decisions confirm that in an insurance dispute the insurer may, by way of interim relief, be ordered to pay the indemnity that is clearly payable at a minimum, but the threshold is high, and that when a conciliation agreement in an insurance dispute is declared enforceable, the court does not decide the insurance dispute on the merits. The rules of the former special motor insurance regime, under which a decision of the arbitration body and later of the disputes committee did not enter into force if a party brought the same matter before a court within the statutory time limit, must be read in their historical context; the insurance disputes committee ceased operating on 1 October 2014 (see topic 12). An award of the present insurance arbitration court, like any arbitral award, takes effect on the day it is made (TsMS § 746(1)); it may be set aside only on the grounds in TsMS § 751 and within the time limit in § 752(1), so simply bringing the same dispute before a court does not prevent the award from taking effect. On the type of proceedings for recourse claims between apartment owners see topic 10.

## Decisions

### RKTKm 15.03.2010, 3-2-1-17-10

*Order* · paras 8-11 · interim relief; TsMS § 378(1)(8); minimum indemnity; hearing the defendant

In a dispute over an insurance indemnity, interim relief may consist of ordering the insurer to pay the policyholder or beneficiary, before final judgment, the indemnity clearly payable at a minimum (TsMS § 378(1)(8)). The general requirements for interim relief are, however, not sufficient for this measure, and it may be necessary to hear the defendant first (TsMS § 384).

[Judgment on riigikohus.ee (Estonian)](https://www.riigikohus.ee/et/lahendid?asjaNr=3-2-1-17-10)

### RKTKm 22.03.2023, 2-21-4060/54

*Order* · paras 15-17 · conciliation agreement; conditional agreement; expert opinion; declaration of enforceability; TsMS § 627¹

The insurer and policyholder concluded a conditional conciliation agreement under which payment depended on an expert's opinion (construction defect or storm damage). The Supreme Court held that the court's review in proceedings to declare a conciliation agreement enforceable is limited, and the county court exceeded those limits by assessing evidence and deciding on the merits whether there was an insured event. Costs were imposed on the insurer because it refused to pay despite the expert opinion being unfavourable to it. The Court added that a conditional conciliation agreement cannot be declared enforceable at all, so such agreements should be avoided where possible, and it left the application unexamined (paras 15.4, 16).

[Judgment on riigikohus.ee (Estonian)](https://www.riigikohus.ee/et/lahendid?asjaNr=2-21-4060/54)

## Related pages

- [Supreme Court of Estonia: overview of insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court)
- [Previous topic](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court/limitation-and-time-limits)
- [Next topic](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court/credit-guarantee-and-reinsurance)
- [Estonian insurance contract law: overview](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/estonian-insurance-contract-law)
- [Glossary of Estonian insurance terms](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/glossary)