Abstract
The article deals with the scope of application of Art. 3851 § 1 of the Civil Code to insurance contracts designed as investment instruments. The regulation implements Art. 4 (2) of Directive EU 93/13/EEC and provides for an exception to the general mechanism of control of clauses in consumer contracts. Owing to their structural and economic complexity insurance contracts offer a particularly serious challenges from this viewpoint. is the challenges are particularly intensive when the structure of an insurance contract is used to pursue other types of interests, especially to serve as an investment instrument. Basing on the general observations as to the nature of the exception in Art. 3851 § 1 CC, the article examines more deeply a special type of insurance contracts that are very popular on the Polish market nowadays, namely life insurance contracts designed to provide an investment instrument for consumers (unit-linked life insurance contracts). The article focuses on a specific type of clauses, commonly found in such contracts, which specify the amount of funds transferred to the consumer after termination of a contract. In this regard the text addresses the ongoing controversy, whether the clauses of this type specify the primary object of a contract. It answers this question negatively, arguing for encompassing these terms with the general mechanism of control under Directive 93/13/EEC.