Question ID: 2324
Regulation Reference: (EU) No 2016/97 - Insurance Distribution Directive
Topic: Insurance product information document / IPID (Art. 20 para. 7 and 8 IDD)
Article: 20(4 and 5)
Status: Final
Date of submission: 11 Aug 2021
Question
I would like to ask whether in case of mutually agreed (meaning agreed between consumer and insurer/insurance distributor) change of existing insurance in parts such as price, insurance coverage, restrictions on covers new IPID reflecting the insurance as a whole (i.e. also parts not impacted by the change) should be provided or it is enough to provide IPID reflecting only the changes agreed? In other words, in case of any change of insurance contract which results in modification of some of the information encompassed in IPID should there be new IPID reflecting the insurance product in its complexity or only IPID with information concerning the changes to be made?
EIOPA answer
The answer to this question is provided by the European Commission.
Pursuant to Article 20(5) IDD, pre-contractual information referred to in paragraph 4 of the same Article must be provided by way of a standardised insurance product information document. Therefore, IPID is intended as a stand-alone standardised pre-contractual document to enable comparability for a target market across non-life products offered by different distributors. The intention of the IPID is not to capture the situation where there is further personalisation/individual tailoring of the terms & conditions of the coverage based on negotiation between the parties. Recital 48 also explains that the IPID represents standardised information about non-life insurance products and that it allows the customer to make an informed decision prior to the conclusion of a contract.
The substance of the IPID is connected to the insurance product designed for the target market, not to the particular bespoke insurance contract between the parties.
Therefore, where the changes made to the insurance contract are not the consequence of changes to the insurance product, the insurance distributor does not have to update the IPID (as a stand-alone document provided for the target market).
Disclaimer provided by the European Commission:
The answers clarify provisions already contained in the applicable legislation. They do not extend in any way the rights and obligations deriving from such legislation nor do they introduce any additional requirements for the concerned operators and competent authorities. The answers are merely intended to assist natural or legal persons, including competent authorities and Union institutions and bodies, in clarifying the application or implementation of the relevant legal provisions. Only the Court of Justice of the European Union is competent to authoritatively interpret Union law. The views expressed in the internal Commission Decision cannot prejudge the position that the European Commission might take before the Union and national courts.