• Is it possible that in the Polish property insurance market some practices violating collective consumer interests might have been applied?
• The President of UOKiK has initiated a preliminary investigation in the case in question.
• The Authority examines clauses used in so-called “all risks” insurance and insurers’ practices related to its sales, including in terms of misselling.

The President of UOKiK initiated the preliminary investigation whose aim is to establish whether unfair practices had been used in offering, sales and implementation of the property insurance contracts concluded in line with the “all risks” formula. 

What does an “all risks” model consist in? 

In principle, the “all risks” insurance provides an extensive scope of coverage. As a general rule, every single unexpected event is covered with such a policy unless it has been explicitly excluded in the contract. However, the very insurance name - “all risks insurance” - may be misleading for consumers as, contrary to the suggestion contained in the name, the policy does not cover any and all possible risks. Therefore, the President of UOKiK checks whether consumers are informed of an actual scope of the insurance. Doubts may be raised as to whether the term “all risks” is not used as a marketing slogan which suggests comprehensive coverage while in reality a list of exclusions may significantly reduce the insurer’s limit of liability. A problem arises when a scope of those exclusions is too extensive or not precise while the terms used are too general or difficult to interpret by a consumer. As a result, customers may feel misled about the actual scope of coverage while discrepancies between the declared “comprehensive” coverage and the actual terms and conditions of the insurance policy may cause difficulties in pursuing claims.

- Consumers should be sure that “all risks” scope of insurance corresponds with promises made by their insurer. Contracts should be drawn up in a clear and transparent manner and possible exclusions should be listed and defined explicitly as early as at the stage when the insurance policy is offered to the consumer. Otherwise, consumers may be misled about the scope of the insurance coverage - says the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

Actions of UOKiK 

The President of UOKiK has undertaken actions in the insurance market for a number of times, paying attention to the products which may be misleading for consumers about an actual scope of the coverage. “All risks” insurance policies have been offered to consumers increasingly frequently as a comprehensive protection of their property from the consequences of some random events. The problem occurs when contracts are non-transparent or contain numerous, extremely extensive liability exclusions - as a result, a customer may pay a high premium and in the event of a loss, not receive the expected benefit.

UOKiK will analyse the aforementioned issue by virtue of a preliminary investigation.