On 18 July 2022, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (the “KNF”) issued recommendations for the settlement of motor insurance claims. Their main goal is to ensure compliance of the activities of insurance companies with the law, to prevent infringement of interests of policyholders, insured persons or persons entitled under insurance contracts and to minimize risk in the activities of insurance companies.
Recommendations include areas such as: timely payouts, carrying out payouts in compliance with the principle of full compensation, respect for information obligations towards entitled persons, supervision and control over the claims settlement process by the insurance company’s authorities, internal control in the claims settlement process or supervision and control of insurance companies over external entities entrusted with claims handling activities. In addition, the current wording of the Recommendation has been extended to include new areas in relation to which it is justified – in the opinion of the PFSA – to indicate the appropriate course of action. These are areas concerning, in particular: organizing settlement of claims by the insurance company ensuring the restoration of the vehicle to the state prior to the damage as part of the so-called comprehensive motor damage settlement service; offering the injured parties the rental of a replacement vehicle; reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the order by the authorized person to draw up an expert opinion by a third party or concluding settlements.
The document contains a total of 25 Recommendations that have been divided into 3 areas: 1/ organization, management, supervision and control of the process of settlement of motor insurance claims, 2/ the claims settlement procedure 3/ the method of determining the amount of the payout.
It should be stressed that all recommendations have been addressed to national insurance companies, and should be used also by major branches of foreign insurance companies, taking into account their organizational characteristics. Recommendations on the manner of conducting settlement of claims and determining the amount of the payout under civil liability insurance contracts of owners of motor vehicles for damages arising in connection with the use of these vehicles, referred to in Article 4 point 1 of the Act of 22 May 2003 on compulsory insurance, the Insurance Guarantee Fund and the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau, should also be used by foreign insurance companies established in the Member States of the European Union or the States parties to the EEA Agreement, which carry out insurance activities in the territory of the Republic of Poland, in the area of motor insurance on the terms set out in this Act on Insurance Activity.
The PFSA expects that the new Recommendations will be applied by insurance companies no later than from 1 November 2022. It should also be emphasized that the „apply or explain” principle applies to the Recommendation – and therefore, in accordance with Article 365(5) of the Act on Insurance Activity, insurance companies that do not comply with the Recommendations (or do not intend to comply with them) must inform the supervisory authority how they intend to achieve the objectives for the implementation of which the supervisory authority issued the Recommendations.
We encourage you to review the full content of the recommendation at:
Rekomendacje_dot_likwidacji_szkod_z_ubezpieczen_komunikacyjnych_78983.pdf (knf.gov.pl)
