Providing the documents for online insurance distribution
The cross-border online insurance distribution of non-life insurance products within the EU has long been a common sales channel. However, different national laws always created an obstacle to the cross-border insurance distribution.
The IDD largely harmonizes the legal requirements for online insurance distribution on the European market.
Providing of documents with “forced download”
In addition to the aforementioned information with regard to the insurance intermediary the customer shall be provided with the following documents in good time before the conclusion of an insurance contract via a “forced download”:
- the Sales Information of the Insurer
- the General Terms and Condition of Insurance
- the General Terms and Condition of Insurance
- the Overview of Benefits
- the Data Protection Information / the Consent for the Use of personal
The provision of the relevant documents might be implemented in the customer journey as follows:
By clicking the corresponding box the client accepts the available documents. By clicking on the document itself the customer furthermore is obliged to carry out a download of the relevant document (“forced download“). In case the customer either refuses to click all of the provided boxes or to download all of the documents the purchase may not be continued.
What are the alternatives?
Alternatively, the pre-contractual information may be provided to the customer via e-mail (pdf) or push notification. Please note: the documents must be provided prior to the conclusion of the contract.
After conclusion of the contract the following documents must be submitted to the client by e-mail:
- the Policy
- Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)
- the General Terms and Condition of Insurance
- the Overview of Benefits
Important to note: an intermediary using the services of an exempted ancillary insurance intermediary must ensure that the latter provides the IPID to the customers prior to the conclusion of the contract.
So be prepared and have all obligatory documents ready for the online insurance distribution.
Find the full IDD-series here on our blog!
