BEUC NEWS - 24.01.2019

The European Parliament’s Internal Market (IMCO) Committee voted this week on revised motor insurance rules in the European Union. Consumers need to have access to affordable, fair and transparent motor insurance policies. Unfortunately, BEUC’s main recommendation for the European Parliament, which is to introduce ‘mandatory bonus-malus’ rules requiring insurers to award automatic premium reductions based on the driving history of consumers, was not taken on board by the IMCO Committee.

BEUC believes that your driving history should always count when you take out an insurance policy. Mandatory bonus-malus rules already exist in several Member States, including France and Luxembourg. In France, 95% of drivers receive a bonus based on their driving history. In other EU Member States, there is no specific obligation for insurance firms to take into account claims history statements, and insurers are free to determine the levels at which they set their premiums. The only way to guarantee EU-wide portability of the claims history statement and to improve consumer outcomes in the insurance market, is to impose and harmonise the use of bonus-malus discounts at the European level.

Huge technological changes are underway in the automotive sector. The availability of connected, semi-autonomous and autonomous cars will change the fundamentals of motor insurance. Rules about who in future should be responsible in the event of an accident will need to be fundamentally revised. BEUC therefore welcomes amendments by the IMCO Committee to require the European Commission to review in five years whether current motor insurance rules remain fit for purpose, in light of technological developments.