Insurers will have to report the costs associated with the product to their customers
by
mtc
- 3:34 AM
Insurers will have to report the costs associated with the product to their customers
The Government approves a bill that will affect 3,200 insurance brokers and 77,000 agents
The Council of Ministers approved on Friday a draft Law on the Distribution of Private Insurance and Reinsurance to strengthen the protection of policyholders with new rules of conduct and provide more transparency in the sale of these products.
Thus, among the measures is that the customer must be informed of all costs and expenses associated with the product as well as its risks. The law will affect more than 3,200 insurance brokers and 77,000 agents in the sector.
Insurers will have to report the costs associated with the product to their customers
The regulation, which transposes a European directive, seeks to "establish fair conditions of competition for all operators in the sector", which are appropriate and proportionate to the different types of distribution channels. To this end, they also establish additional requirements for the distribution of investment products based on insurance and thus avoid conflicts of interest that could harm the client.
In this sense, the draft Law states that the insured must be informed of all risks related to investment products based on insurance or certain proposed investment strategies and provide a periodic evaluation of the suitability of the investment product when advice is offered. .
In addition, the concept of "linked and combined sales" is introduced. Are those that offer insurance products in conjunction with other services or products other than insurance as part of the same package or agreement. The insurance distributor, which for example could be a bank, must inform if the different components can be acquired separately, and indicate to the client the corresponding supporting documents of the costs and expenses of each component.
The new regulations will also reinforce the regime of infractions and sanctions, with higher fines. In addition, specific procedures will be established to channel public complaints to encourage the collaboration of professionals in the sector, without implying labor risks for those who report the irregularities.
Same regulation for mediators
The Law goes on to consider insurance and reinsurance distributors, beyond traditional mediators (agents and brokers), to insurers and reinsurers; to supplementary insurance mediators , which include market participants that distribute products on an ancillary basis; and the comparators. In the case of bancassurance operators, the credit institution may make its distribution network available to more than one operator.
The regulation provides that insurance intermediaries can use websites or other distance marketing techniques by providing information to the customer by comparing prices or coverage of a certain number of insurance products of different companies.
