Update: Poland to strengthen supervision over foreign (re)insurers

Poland

Polish Parliament has adopted a law aimed at introducing changes to the existing (re)insurance regulations concerning foreign EU insurers and reinsurers operating in Poland. The changes will come into force on 17 July 2020.

Key takeaways include:

  • introducing sanctions for exceeding deadlines related to compulsory insurance (such as MTPL insurance), i.e. deadlines for the payment of compensation and deadlines for informing the client about refusal of an insurance claim or partial acceptance of the claim. Those sanctions include the financial penalties to be imposed on the foreign insurer and/or on members of the management board. Sanctions will be applicable to all infringements from the moment the new laws came into force, regardless of the time when the insurance contract was concluded;
  • conferring emergency powers on the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (the “PFSA”), allowing for the immediate removal or prevention of infringements of Polish law. The law envisages that the PFSA would be able to impose on foreign (re)insurers all the regulatory measures applicable to the domestic (re)insurer. PFSA would also be empowered to prohibit the operation of a foreign (re)insurer in Poland.

The new law also obliges foreign insurers to submit additional data to the Polish Insurance Guarantee Fund about the gross written premium from insurance of liability arising out of the use of motor vehicles operating on land (excluding carrier’s liability) within 14 days after new law comes into force, i.e. by the end of July 2020.

For more information, please contact our local CMS experts: Ewa Świderska and Sylwia Raszplewicz-Czyżewska.