Covid-19 letter to VP Dombrovskis 24 04 2020.pdf
EC EVP Dombrovskis response to Insurance Europe letter on COVID-19:
Summary
On 8 June, Insurance Europe received a response to its letter to EC Executive Vice-President (EVP) Dombrovskis on COVID-19 of 24 April.
The Commission’s reply is considered overall balanced and very helpful. In particular, the EC letter:
- Welcomes the list of insurers’ relief measures and examples which support the EC objectives noting that:
- Insurers’ extended health-related services and donations in the form of money and medical equipment will support the fight against the health crisis.
- Insurers’ willingness to be accommodating on processes and timelines will help policyholders dealing with challenges related to social distancing and lock-down measures.
- The examples of flexibility of premium payments and contractual terms as well as goodwill exercised by insurers will help avoiding undue restraints on the liquidity of households and companies, and complement the EC actions to provide funding to the real economy.
- Notes that the EC counts on credit insurers to maintain their limits to support European exporters.
- Notes that the EC:
- Supports the steps taken by the ESAs on operational relief.
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Recognises the importance to uphold policyholder protection as acknowledged by the EIOPA statement of 2 April and invites Insurance Europe to share the industry’s experience with implementing the EIOPA statement with the EC services.
- Expects insurers’ capital management decisions to take into account the uncertainty around the extent, magnitude and duration of the crisis.
- Encourages the insurance industry, as well as other financial services providers, to develop best practices to support business and households.
- Notes the need to reflect on how the financial sector can contribute to a sustainable and resilient recovery.
- Recognises that Solvency II has performed well and there should be no loss of momentum with the review. It also notes that EC will soon launch a public consultation and calls on the sector to continue collaborating with EOIPA and NSAs on the data collection for the review.