Until now, the industry agreement governing insurance practices was only binding on those insurers who signed up to it. The supervisory authorities were not empowered to intervene if the agreement was not respected.
With the adoption of the ordinance on the regulation of the activity of insurance intermediaries, they can now intervene with insurers in the event of non-compliance with the industry agreement.
Prohibitions and obligations
Unsolicited calls are a major source of annoyance for policyholders. Cold calling, i.e. contacting a person who has never been insured with the insurer, or has not been insured for 36 months, is now prohibited. What’s more, intermediaries are required to draw up a record of any advice given to a customer, and have it signed by the customer. Thanks to these measures, the activities of insurance intermediaries will be better supervised.
Limited compensation for intermediaries and sanctions
Remuneration for intermediaries is now limited to 70 francs per insured person in social health insurance and 16 monthly premiums per product underwritten in supplementary insurance. The maximum remuneration for supplementary insurance is considerably higher than for social health insurance. This is due to the fact that the work of intermediaries in supplementary insurance is generally much more complex, and therefore more costly, not least because of the wide variety of products.
Insurers who contravene the mandatory rules are liable to a fine of up to CHF 100,000.
The Federal Act on the Regulation of Insurance Intermediaries and its implementing ordinance will come into force on September 1, 2024. They will apply to 2025 premiums and, consequently, to the next health insurance switching period.
Source: Publication by the Federal Office of Public Health, Media and Communication
