Article 78 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Enforcement of People's Courts (Trial) stipulates: "When a branch of an enterprise as a legal person cannot pay off its debts, it may rule that the enterprise as a legal person is the person subjected to execution. If the property directly managed by the enterprise as a legal person is still unable to pay off the debts, the people's court may order the execution of the property of other branches of the enterprise as a legal person. "
Although the branch does not have the qualification of an independent legal person, it can't bear the responsibility as an independent defendant in general. In judicial practice, branches and head offices are often accused of * * * and judge * * * to take responsibility. However, in the implementation, it is generally necessary to implement the property of the branch company first, and it is not enough to implement the head office.
However, if the branch belongs to the classification of other organizations and has strong solvency, it should only be the defendant and bear civil liability. According to the provisions of Article 124 of Judicial Interpretation of the Guarantee Law and the spirit of Article 8 of the Notice of the People's Bank of the Supreme People's Court and China on Regulating the Execution of People's Courts and the Assistance of Financial Institutions according to Law, branches of commercial banks and insurance companies can only be defendants when they bear civil liabilities. If the branch company is solvent, the head office is still the defendant, which is not convenient for the parties to participate in the litigation, nor for the court to hear. Therefore, if the plaintiff insists on taking the head office as the plaintiff, it will not be allowed. If the plaintiff only chooses one branch as the defendant when suing, it shall be allowed as long as the branch still exists. Only when the branch company is the defendant, although the ultimate civil liability shall be borne by the head office, the head office is a third person outside the case, and the people's court cannot order the preservation of other property of the head office, nor can it judge the head office to bear civil liability. After the judgment comes into effect, if it is found that the property of the branch company is not enough to pay off the debts during the execution, the creditor's rights can still be protected by executing other property of the head office in accordance with the provisions of Article 78 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Execution of People's Courts (Trial).
I hope it helps.
Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.