Zakaz otrzymywania przez ubezpieczającego oraz osoby reprezentujące ubezpieczającego wynagrodzenia lub innych korzyści w ubezpieczeniu na cudzy rachunek
Prohibition of Fees and other benefits for Policyholders or Their representatives in insurance on Someone Else’s account

Summary/Abstract: In accordance with Article 18 of the Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act of 11 September 2015 (“IRAA”), which applies to insurance on someone else’s account, and in particular to group/collective insurance, policyholders or their representatives may not be remunerated for offering insurance or for any activities related to the management of insurance policies. This regulation has given rise to practi- cal difficulties and stirred discussions among legal scholars. To properly interpret it, we must take into account its origins, and in particular the position taken by the Financial Ombudsman and the finan- cial services regulator prior to adoption of the IRAA, and in the course of legislative works on the IRAA. It will not be until the legislator’s intent is so uncovered, that we will be able to appropriately construe the Act in question. The purpose declared by the lawmakers was to eliminate a practice whereby the insurance taker (policyholder) would receive a fee in circumstances that may actually amount to a re- lationship resembling that of insurance intermediation. Paradoxically, the introduction of Article 18 to the IRAA offers an arguable case for claiming that, by so doing, the lawmakers conclusively established that the practice of paying fees to insurance takers in collective insurance schemes is not sufficient grounds for treating the activity of insurance takers’ as insurance intermediation. If the contrary con- clusion was reached, the prohibitions laid down in the Insurance Intermediation Act of 22 May 2003 would be sufficient to challenge the practice and there would have been no need for another regulation re-establishing such prohibitions. This article also discusses key points regarding the interpretation of Article 18, including the meaning of the term “other benefits”, the connection between “other benefits” and the “activities that involve offering insurance coverage or performance of insurance contracts”, the admissibility of commission fees payable to insurance brokers taking part in collective insurance transactions, and the interpretation of the exception to the prohibitions set out in Article 18(1) and (2), which is established under Article 18(3).

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