In July this year, the Financial Supervision Commission issued Recommendations on the resolution of damage from motor insurance. New Recommendations replace Guidelines on the elimination of damage from motor insurance with 16 December 2014
The Financial Supervision Commission regularly issues Recommendations to ensure that the activities of insurance companies comply with the applicable legal provisions, to prevent infringements of the interests of policyholders and to mitigate the risks of insurance companies. The new Guidelines include 25 Recommendations in the following areas:
- Organisation, management, supervision and control of the settlement of damage to motor insurance;
- Procedure for winding up;
Method of determining the amount of the benefit.
Examples Recommendations:
Recommendation 4
The insurance undertaking should develop and adopt procedures specifying the manner in which winding-up proceedings are to be carried out, forming part of the management system of the insurance undertaking and ensuring that they function properly.
Recommendation 9
The insurance undertaking should ensure that persons performing activities in the area of the elimination of damage to motor insurance have the appropriate competence and knowledge, in particular through access to training in this area.
Recommendation 11
The liquidator's communication with entities in the course of winding-up proceedings, in particular with the claimant, the eligible person, the policyholder, the insured person and the perpetrator of the event, should be carried out with due care in relation to the professional nature of the insurance undertaking.
Recommendation 14
The insurance undertaking, when determining the amount of the benefit from the OC insurance contract of vehicle holders, should provide the rightholder with full and understandable information on how the amount of the benefit, including its undisputed part, is determined.
Recommendation 21
The liability of the insurance undertaking under the OC insurance agreement of vehicle owners for damage to the vehicle shall include the reimbursement of the deliberate and economically justified costs of hiring a replacement vehicle.
- These recommendations play an important role in the winding-up process as they oblige insurance companies to take measures to improve the above-mentioned proceedings.
In practice, we are very often confronted with a situation where a party dissatisfied with the resolution of an insurance company questions both the amount of compensation granted and the extent of the damage, in particular the need to replace damaged components of the vehicle, the appropriateness of using a replacement vehicle at the time indicated by the victim is also questioned. The improvement of winding-up proceedings would undoubtedly have a positive impact on the rate of obtaining adequate compensation by the victims and would not expose the insurance companies to costly, long-term court proceedings.