The large chamber bent on Tuesday for the second time on the planned changes to the Insurance Supervision Act. After the first round of parliamentary deliberations, around ten differences between the councils remained at the end of 2021.
The fundamental question of whether the ombudsman’s office should be regulated by law or whether an industry solution should continue to be possible will continue to be discussed in the next two session weeks. If the Federal Council and the Council of States have their way, every intermediary and every insurance company should be obliged to join an ombudsman if there are disputes with insured persons.
No government intervention
However, the bourgeois majority in the National Council advocates the deletion of these rules. She argues with the principle of subsidiarity. According to this, the state should only regulate something if the voluntariness does not work.
According to the majority of the Commission, today’s industry solution fulfills its purpose, as spokesman Martin Landolt (Middle / GL) said. Private insurers have operated two ombudsman offices for decades. There is no need for a government solution.
The Ratslefte was defeated with its argument to give policyholders low-threshold and customer-friendly access in the event of disputes. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer also unsuccessfully campaigned for mandatory ombudsman offices. He described these as “contemporary”. The decision against the ombudsman’s duty was finally made by 108 to 84 votes.
open details
Differences to the small chamber also remain on other points. For example, the National Council decided to stick to its previous decisions on the provisions on the supplementary international standards and the stabilization plans.
In addition, the National Council intends to formulate the new provisions on restructuring law adopted by the Council of States more precisely. The councils have already agreed on the principle: In the future, insurance companies should be able to be restructured and not liquidated directly.
The councils have deleted the provision initially demanded by the National Council, which would have allowed insurance companies to negotiate jointly with service providers in the area of supplementary insurance to health insurance.
This question must be clarified on a reliable basis, Finance Minister Maurer said in the Council of States. There might be another law that would do that. However, no one in the Council disputed the need for action on this issue. The situation is unsatisfactory.
Assist on the home straight
The template also contains rules for insurance brokers: It is intended to improve the framework conditions for insurance companies and consumers. In the future, for example, insurance brokers will not only have to tell their customers what is included in an insurance policy and how high the premium is, but also how much commission he or she will receive from the insurance company.
At the same time, Parliament wants to relax supervision of insurance companies that only serve large companies. The current supervisory rules have been in force since 2006.
The bill is now going back to the Council of States with five remaining differences. The business should be cleaned up during the current session.
(AWP)
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