Section 56:
Application of surplus assets of life insurance fund in liquidation or insolvency.
(1) In the
winding up of an insurance company and in the insolvency of any other insurer the value of the assets and
the liabilities of the insurer in respect of life insurance business shall be ascertained separately from the
value of any other assets or any other liabilities of the insurer and no such assets shall be applied to the
discharge of any liabilities other than those in respect of life insurance business except in so far as those
assets exceed the liabilities in respect of life insurance business.
(2) In the winding up of an insurance company carrying on the business of life insurance or in the
insolvency of any other insurer carrying on such business where any proportion of the profits of the
insurer was before the commencement of the winding up or insolvency allocated to policy-holders if,
when the assets and liabilities of the insurer have been ascertained, there is found to be a surplus of assets
over liabilities (hereinafter referred to as a prima facie surplus) there shall be added to the liabilities of the
insurer in respect of the life insurance business an amount equal to such proportion of the prima facie
surplus as is equivalent to such proportion of the profits allocated to shareholders and policy-holders as
was allocated to policy-holders during the ten years immediately preceding the commencement of the
winding up and the assets of the insurer shall be deemed to exceed his liabilities only in so far as those
assets exceed those liabilities after such addition:
Provided that--
(a) if in any case there has been no such allocation or if it appears to the 1[Tribunal] that by reason of
special circumstances it would be inequitable that the amount to be added to the liabilities of the insurer
in respect of the life insurance business should be an amount equal to such proportion as aforesaid, the
amount to be so added shall be such amount as the 1[Tribunal] may direct, and
(b) for the purpose of the application of this sub-section to any case where before the commencement
of the winding up or insolvency a proportion of such profits as aforesaid of a branch only of the life
insurance business in question has been allocated to policy-holders, the value of the assets and liabilities
of the insurer in respect of that branch shall be separately ascertained in like manner as the value of his
assets and liabilities in respect of the life insurance business was ascertained, and the surplus so found, if
any, of assets over liabilities shall, for the purpose of determining the amount to be added to the liabilities
of the insurer in respect of the life insurance business be deemed to be the prima facie surplus.
Notes:
1. Subs. by s. 133 and the Schedule (serial no. 5), ibid., for "Court" (w.e.f. 1-4-2003).