THE 7th EDITION OF THE OBSERVATORY IDENTIFIES A POSITIVE TREND IN FAVOUR OF INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES IN EUROPEAN CASE LAW
CGPA Europe continues its efforts to provide the profession with accurate studies on the evolution of European case law affecting the professional indemnity of insurance intermediaries. The 7th edition of the Observatory also focuses on regulatory developments in Europe and key figures of the European intermediation market.
CGPA Europe has once again collected significant legal decisions across 7 countries to enrich its database of European case law. This database, dedicated to the professional indemnity of insurance intermediaries, focuses this year on the scope of an intermediary’s duty to provide information and advice. In a positive sign for the profession, the trend of the European courts is to set reasonable limits on the duties of intermediaries. Indeed, from a French decision specifying that the duties imposed on intermediaries do not require them to take any particular action if — merely by reading the policy or endorsement he signs — the insured is able to understand for himself the scope of the conditions of the policy taken out, to an Irish decision outlining that the broker does not have a duty to check the information provided by his client and is therefore not liable for any omissions or misrepresentations : this movement is to be applauded although differences in assessment and concepts continue to exist in different jurisdictions.
The “dossier” part deals with regulatory developments in Europe, and in particular with the role of European ombudsmen in dealing with claims against insurance intermediaries ; sanctions by national control authorities against insurance intermediaries ; as well as the impact of the GDPR on the profession. CGPA Europe has committed to a study of each of these subjects with the aim of providing a clearer understanding of the environment in which European insurance intermediaries operate on a day-to-day basis.
CGPA Europe also completes its study on the changes in the distribution workforce in Europe, highlighting the vitality of the intermediation sector faced to the growing development of direct sales and bank-insurance players. It is important to note that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the figures usually published by national supervisory authorities, most of which have had to postpone their annual reports. Therefore, this new version of the Observatory focuses on five European countries for which data for which information was available at the time of this report.
Click here to read the 7th edition of the Observatory :
