Facts
The [X.] Life Insurance Company offered from 1989 to 1995 mixed life insurance policies (survival benefit capital and death risk) as a basic insurance combined with a marriage supplementary insurance. The special feature of the supplementary insurance was that the survival benefit sum was paid out prematurely if the insured or co-insured child married before the end of the insurance period. These policies were primarily taken out by Orthodox Jews residing outside of Switzerland, mainly in the USA and Israel. In 1995, [X.] discontinued the conclusion of these insurance contracts, as the premium calculations had proven to be incorrect. In 1996, the Federal Office of Private Insurance approved the surplus participation plan of [X.] , according to which no more surplus participation was to be paid out for the "[K.] " and "[L.] " portfolios with marriage supplement. Three policyholders, [A.] , [B.] and [C.] , subsequently filed a complaint with the Federal Appeals Commission for Supervision of Private Insurance. The Appeals Commission dismissed the complaint. The complainants appealed the decision to the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the administrative court appeal. It stated that the surplus participation is an insurance benefit whose payment is not contractually guaranteed, but depends on the relevant insurance product having a favorable claims experience and/or generating interest income on the…