Poland: UOKiK report on insurance policies

A report on life assurance policies has just been published by UOKiK, the Polish Competition Authority.

UOKiK inspected 13 randomly-selected insurance companies and also, because of its strong market position, PZU Życie. It looked at more than 600 standard contract terms in life assurance, dowry, pension, accident and illness insurance policies and in agreements securing the future of children.

It ruled that most of these terms contravened civil and insurance law, or were ambiguous and incomprehensible for consumers. This included clauses:

· allowing the insurance company to change the policy terms and conditions at any time
· containing ambiguous and incomprehensible phrases susceptible to liberal interpretation by the insurance companies
· differing from those stated in the insurer’s general terms and conditions, and thus misleading to consumers
· enabling the level of benefit to be reduced once the insured reached a specified age
· requiring insureds to continue a life insurance policy despite having already repaid their mortgage
· imposing a short deadline for notifying the insurer of the occurrence of an insured event

Most of the insurance companies whose policies were inspected declared their willingness to cooperate with UOKiK and voluntarily rid their contracts of these irregularities.

UOKiK has brought four actions to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection which has the authority to add clauses to the register of prohibited clauses. Another six claims are being prepared.

UOKiK also fined three insurance companies a total of PLN 539,964 (c €130,000) for practices infringing consumer interests and is planning similar proceedings against some of the others. The three companies receiving fines are: Compensa, HDI-Gerling Życie and Sopockie TU na Życie ERGO HESTIA