The second day of the Polish Chamber of Insurance convention was dedicated to discussions on such important issues as the level of consumer protection and payment of benefits associated with personal damages.
The first topic was discussed during the discussion panel entitled: “Consumerism. How to make regulations work for the clients ?” which I had the pleasure of moderating. Among the participants were Izabela Flakiewicz – Deputy Director of Insurance and Pensions Licences Department, the Office of the Financial Supervision Commission, Joanna Smereczańska-Smulczyk – Chairman of the Polish Chamber of Compensation Firms Intermediaries and Representatives, Maciej Samcik – business journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza, Roman Jarząbek – Director of the Gdańsk branch of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Sławomir Łopalewski – Chairman of PKO Życie TU SA and PKO TU SA, Piotr Narloch – Chairman of InterRisk SA.
During the discussions it was quite difficult to determine clear limits of consumers’ responsibility for their decisions as well as the amount for the optimal scope of consumer protection. What can be seen is different assessments of the situation from the point of view of an insurance company, the regulatory institution or compensation firms. However, at the same time – which may sound optimistic – all participants of the discussion agreed that a the proper care of consumers’ needs should be an obligation of every interested party. Concrete propositions were mentioned – such as launching a platform where representatives of both the market and authorities would be able to work out solutions aimed at taking care of consumers’ interests with regard to providing the possibility of carrying out insurance activity in a stable and predictable manner.
