Brussels, 14/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 December, the EU Council of Ministers formally adopted new rules on insurance brokers (see EUROPE 11348).
The new rules cover insurance products for potential damages (for example, health insurance) or including an investment element (such as life insurance). They will not cover insurance whose premium is below €600 a year, but policies with premiums of below €200 for services of less than three months (travel insurance, for instance) will be covered by the more relaxed new rules.
Registered with the competent authority of their country of establishment, insurance intermediaries must themselves take out insurance policies to cover them against liability arising from professional error. In order to protect the holders of insurance policies against intermediaries' inability to transfer a premium or a claim between the insurance company and the client, intermediaries must have a permanent financial float of a certain size.
Insurance brokers will be able to continue to receive commission from insurance companies, but the existence of such commission payments must not lead to clients being divided towards an insurance product that is not suited to his or her personal circumstances.
Consumers will have simple, standardised and free pre-contractual information about the type of insurance contract they are considering investing in, such as the guaranteed risks and other risks. Finally, the future directive aims to restrict the sale of insurance products combined with the purchase of a service or consumer goods.
The new directive will come into force in 2018, replacing Directive 2002/92 on insurance distribution. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)