Polish court rules insurer must pay compensation for children who died in the womb at 19 weeks

Vienna Life Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń na Życie S.A. Vienna Insurance Group will have to pay compensation to the mother of two children who were stillborn at 19 weeks of pregnancy. The case concerned a woman who was pregnant with twins. Three years before becoming pregnant, she enrolled in a group insurance plan that covered, among other things, stillbirth. At 19 weeks’ gestation, the woman delivered two stillborn babies. She then applied to the insurer for payment of stillbirth benefits, citing the insurance contract. The company refused to pay compensation, claiming that the definition of “stillbirth” had not been met. According to the Company, the fact that the children were stillborn before the end of the 22nd week of pregnancy disqualifies the event from payment of the benefit.

The Ordo Iuris Institute provided legal assistance to the mother. In January 2025, the Szczecin-Prawobrzeże District Court fully agreed with the arguments of the mother’s attorneys, noting that the insurer had not demonstrated that, from the outset, the woman had been provided with all documents enabling a determination that she was aware of the grounds limiting or excluding the insurer’s liability. The company filed an appeal against this judgment with the Regional Court in Szczecin.

In a judgment dated January 13, 2026, the court dismissed the appeal. The insurer was ordered to pay the benefit to the mother and to reimburse the costs of the proceedings before the courts of first and second instance. The judgment is final.

“The final, binding ruling sends an important message to all parents who, after losing a child before birth, encounter refusals to pay the insurance benefits they are entitled to. “Ms. Natalia’s case shows that in such situations it is worth asserting your rights, and that unfair contract terms and abuses by insurers can be effectively challenged in court,” notes attorney Magdalena Leszczyńska from the Ordo Iuris Litigation Intervention Center.
And it is also the confirmation by a court that a human being, regardless of his or her stage of prenatal development, should be considered as his or her mother’s child.