03 February 2021

Insurance Europe: IDD working well; improvements needed to reduce information overload and to reflect increased online sales

Insurance Europe has today published its response to a questionnaire by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority on the application of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). Since the IDD entered into force in October 2018, the overall impact of the Directive has been positive for two main reasons.

Firstly, the IDD has worked within existing distribution systems and has effectively raise the  professionalism of insurance distribution, while providing for additional transparency, both of which have a positive impact on consumers.

Secondly, the IDD respected national differences in market structure and consumer culture, which allows national regulators and supervisors to take an approach to insurance distribution that is appropriate for their market.

Any future changes to modernise the IDD should therefore maintain this approach to work within existing systems and to reflect national differences. While the IDD is working well overall, improvements should be made through the review of the Directive to:

• Address flawed rules that result in consumers being overloaded with information.
• Create a legislative framework that is fit for the digital age and that allows consumers to benefit from  increasing online sales.

Full response

Insurance Europe

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