Although not all of the consumer protection organisation’s requests have been heard, there is nevertheless something new: an amendment to the law of 4 April 2014 relating to insurance was published in the Belgian Official Journal in October 2023, and will come into force on 1 October 2024. This relaxation of the rules on termination will apply to insurance that falls under the “non-life” branch, such as home, car and family insurance.
More flexible termination
Concretely, what are the changes? “Today, the consumer must therefore respect a minimum period of three months before the anniversary date of his insurance contract if he wishes to terminate it. In other words, if your contract took effect on June 1, you had until March 1 to submit your termination request to the insurer. From October 1, 2024, this period will no longer be three months but two months.” This is an adaptation of existing legislation.
Furthermore, this revised and corrected legislation contains – and this is where the main advance lies – a completely new method of termination, requested by the consumer protection organization. In concrete terms, all new contracts created from October 1, 2024 can be terminated at any time, subject to two months’ notice. “This is called infra-annual termination”notes the expert. “But be careful, this possibility of terminating a contract at any time will only be possible from the first anniversary date of the contract.” The contract must therefore have existed for at least one year with the insurer for the consumer to benefit from this infra-annual termination.
Finally, let us note that this legislation, which is favorable to the customer, is unfortunately not retroactive. “Even if the contract has existed for 3-4 years with an insurer, the first anniversary date from October 1, 2024 will serve as the basis.”
Standardized payment deadlines and penalties
That’s not all, because the new law on deadlines and sanctions concerning the payment of insurance benefits also comes into force on October 1. “This new legislation establishes a general framework for several branches of insurance which were not yet regulated in terms of payment deadlines”states Assuralia, the professional union of insurance companies. “These payment deadlines existed for auto liability and fire insurance, but for other products, there were in fact neither deadlines nor sanctions provided for”adds Diane Hendrickx, from Test Achats.
From October 1, insurers will now have to respect a three-month deadline to respond to compensation claims. “In the event of a dispute over the coverage of the claim, a reasoned response must be provided within this period. If this period is not respected, the insurer will be required to pay a fixed fine of 300 euros. If a reminder is sent to the insurer and the latter still does not respond, the fine may amount to 300 euros per day of delay.”details Assuralia.
The new rules finally specify that the amounts due must be paid within 30 days of the benefit being fixed, failing which high late payment interest will be charged. They will apply to all compensation claims submitted from 1 October 2024.
