contents table Logo Lexparency.org lexp
Directive 2002/92/EC
Insurance Mediation Directive
Article 12

Article 12 — Information provided by the insurance intermediary

  1. Prior to the conclusion of any initial insurance contract, and, if necessary, upon amendment or renewal thereof, an insurance intermediary shall provide the customer with at least the following information:
    1. his identity and address;
    2. the register in which he has been included and the means for verifying that he has been registered;
    3. whether he has a holding, direct or indirect, representing more than 10 % of the voting rights or of the capital in a given insurance undertaking;
    4. whether a given insurance undertaking or parent undertaking of a given insurance undertaking has a holding, direct or indirect, representing more than 10 % of the voting rights or of the capital in the insurance intermediary;
    5. the procedures referred to in Article 10 allowing customers and other interested parties to register complaints about insurance and reinsurance intermediaries and, if appropriate, about the out-of-court complaint and redress procedures referred to in Article 11.

      In addition, an insurance intermediary shall inform the customer, concerning the contract that is provided, whether:

      1. he gives advice based on the obligation in paragraph 2 to provide a fair analysis, or
      2. he is under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance mediation business exclusively with one or more insurance undertakings. In that case, he shall, at the customer's request provide the names of those insurance undertakings, or
      3. he is not under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance mediation business exclusively with one or more insurance undertakings and does not give advice based on the obligation in paragraph 2 to provide a fair analysis. In that case, he shall, at the customer's request provide the names of the insurance undertakings with which he may and does conduct business.

    In those cases where information is to be provided solely at the customer's request, the customer shall be informed that he has the right to request such information.

  2. When the insurance intermediary informs the customer that he gives his advice on the basis of a fair analysis, he is obliged to give that advice on the basis of an analysis of a sufficiently large number of insurance contracts available on the market, to enable him to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which insurance contract would be adequate to meet the customer's needs.
  3. Prior to the conclusion of any specific contract, the insurance intermediary shall at least specify, in particular on the basis of information provided by the customer, the demands and the needs of that customer as well as the underlying reasons for any advice given to the customer on a given insurance product. These details shall be modulated according to the complexity of the insurance contract being proposed.
  4. The information referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 need not be given when the insurance intermediary mediates in the insurance of large risks, nor in the case of mediation by reinsurance intermediaries.
  5. Member States may maintain or adopt stricter provisions regarding the information requirements referred to in paragraph 1, provided that such provisions comply with Community law.

    Member States shall communicate to the Commission the national provisions set out in the first subparagraph.

    In order to establish a high level of transparency by all appropriate means, the Commission shall ensure that the information it receives relating to national provisions is also communicated to consumers and insurance intermediaries.