Coronavirus Response : the European Commission welcomes ‘Best Practices’ to provide relief for consumers and businesses

Coronavirus Response : the European Commission welcomes ‘Best Practices’ to provide relief for consumers and businesses

The Commission recently organised two roundtable meetings with stakeholders to discuss relief measures where all represented parties declared their openness to cooperation and dialogue. Over 25 organisations participated in both roundtables including from : consumer organisations, business federations and Insurance companies.

On 14 July 2020, the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion has wel­co­med a list of ‘best prac­tices’ agreed by the finan­cial sec­tor, and consu­mer and busi­ness orga­ni­sa­tions, to help fur­ther miti­gate the impact of the coro­na­vi­rus pan­de­mic. It sets out concre­te­ly how dif­ferent mar­ket par­ti­ci­pants can sup­port citi­zens and busi­nesses throu­ghout the crisis.

Today’s ‘best prac­tices’ cover seve­ral issues, including :

  • Pay­ment mora­to­ria for consu­mer and busi­ness loans, and for insu­rance contri­bu­tions : these mea­sures can help those facing finan­cial dif­fi­cul­ties by defer­ring payments ;
  • Enabling safer cash­less pay­ments while ensu­ring cash pay­ments remain avai­lable for those who need them ;
  • Ensu­ring loans aimed at miti­ga­ting the impact of coro­na­vi­rus are pro­vi­ded swift­ly, and that the fees and inter­est rates incur­red are fair ;
  • Legi­ti­mate insu­rance claims are pro­ces­sed and paid out as qui­ck­ly as pos­sible.

The posi­tive role that inter­me­dia­ries have played during this cri­sis is high­ligh­ted by the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion, and “good prac­tices” do not impose fur­ther obli­ga­tions on the inter­me­dia­tion sec­tor that do not com­ply with exis­ting regu­la­tions.

Source : https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/business_economy_euro/banking_and_finance/documents/200714-best-practices-mitigate-impact-pandemic_en.pdf