Consumer Insurance Contracts Act – New Sections Come Into Effect From 01 Sept. 2021

Dear Member,

As previously advised, most of the provisions of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act came into force on the 1 September 2020. These related to Insurable interest, cooling off period, claims handling duties, deferring payment and subrogation.

The remaining sections of the Act (Sections 8, 9, 12, 14 (subsections 1-5)) will come into effect on 1 September 2021.  These sections deal with the areas of Utmost good faith, Duty of Disclosure, Misrepresentations and Renewals and are applicable to both financial and insurance Brokers. For renewals, updated changes should be in place by late June/early July.  For new business, changes should be implemented by early August.

To assist members, Brokers Ireland has drafted an information document on the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 in respect of the sections which come into effect on 1 September 2021.  This document is available in the Compliance support section of the Brokers Ireland website in the Consumer Insurance Contracts folder.

We urge members to review this information document as there are significant new obligations on brokers in their dealings with consumer clients whether in respect of new business, renewals or MTAs.   Brokers Ireland will provide further updates over the coming months, including an updated Terms of Business Template.

 If you have any queries on this subject, please contact us at compliance@brokersireland.ie