Question ID: 1621 - Intervals at which manufacturers are to review their products
Regulation Reference: (EU) No 2017/2358 - product oversight and governance requirements for insurance
Topic: Other
Status: Final
Date of submission: 10 Jul 2018
Question
In which intervals are manufacturers of insurance products expected to review their products?
EIOPA answer
According to Article 7 of Delegated Regulation 2017/2358, manufacturers shall determine the appropriate intervals for the regular review of their insurance products, thereby taking into account the size, scale, contractual duration and complexity of those insurance products, their respective distribution channels and any relevant external factors such as changes to the applicable legal rules, technological developments or changes to the market situation. External events such as changing regulations, changing market conditions and customer complaints can trigger a product review. The appropriate interval of product review depends on the specific products, its distribution and its target market. Whereas the IDD does not impose a specific frequency to review insurance products, based on experience in some Member States, EIOPA can provide the examples below to provide some practical guidance on the appropriate intervals for reviewing insurance products. N.B. These examples are purely illustrative and are not intended as full and exhaustive descriptions of required intervals of product review:
a. Supplementary healthcare insurance product. The basic coverage of the (mandatory) healthcare insurance is determined by the national authority on a yearly basis. A manufacturer offers healthcare insurance coverage supplemental to the basic coverage. A yearly product review interval is appropriate for the supplemental healthcare insurance product.
b. Home building insurance. A manufacturer has several decennia experience with home building insurance. The manufacturer has determined that the external conditions are stable. The customer data indicates that the customer is overall satisfied with the insurance product. The manufacturer can decide that an appropriate interval for product review every two years is appropriate and therefore wider than the one reported in example “a”.