General Good for providers of cross-border insurance services

In accordance with Article 6 of the Financial Supervision Authority Act (in Estonian: Finantsinspektsiooni seadus), Article 36 of the Insurance Activities Act (hereinafter referred to as IAA, in Estonian: kindlustustegevuse seadus), and Article 11 of the Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 January 2016 on insurance distribution (IDD), we hereby advise you of the rules on the provision of cross-border insurance distribution in Estonia as well as of the conditions that are stated in Estonia in the interest of general good in order to safeguard the compliance of the activities and services to be provided in Estonia with the relevant requirements and for conducting financial supervision. Finantsinspektsioon (Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority) cannot be held liable for inaccuracies in or incompleteness of the list of general good rules.

General good rules within the meaning of Article 11(1) of the IDD

Advice, and standards for sales where no advice is given

IDD Art. 20(7), sp 2 IAA § § 103.2 (6-7); §198 (2.1); Law of Obligations Act § 428 (24) The insurance product information document is to be provided together with information required pursuant to other relevant Union legislative acts or national law.

Information exemptions and flexibility clause

IDD Art. 22(1), sp 2 § 198 (4), § 222.1 (3), Law of Obligations Act § 428 (5) The information referred to in Articles 29 and 30 of this Directive need not be provided to a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU.
IDD Art. 22(2), sp 3 IAA §198 (2) 4); § 221; Each time before the entry into an insurance contract and in case of recognisable necessity also before the amendment of an insurance contract which has previously been entered into, an insurance intermediary shall specify, on the basis of information provided by the client, the insurable interest of the client and the client’s requirements for the insurance contract, recommend from among the insurance contracts offered by the insurance undertaking an insurance contract which is the best match for the insurable interests and requirements of the client and provide the client with sufficient explanations in accordance with the complexity of the insurance contract and type of the client so that the client would be able to make an informed decision regarding the entry into the insurance contract. The requirement for provision of a recommendation need not be adhered to in case of a unit-linked life insurance contract.

Information to customers

IDD Art. 29(1), sp3 IAA § 198 (2) 8) Law of Obligations Act § 428 (2) 4) The information referred to in this paragraph shall be provided in a comprehensible form in such a manner that customers or potential customers are reasonably able to understand the nature and risks concerning the insurance-based investment product offered and, consequently, to take investment decisions on an informed basis.
IDD Art. 29(3), sp 3 IAA § 221.1; § 222 The requirement for provision of a recommendation need not be adhered to in case of a unit-linked life insurance contract (Insurance Activities Act § 222 (3)). A unit-linked life insurance contract means a contract, the amount payable under which depends fully or partially, directly or indirectly, on the value of the underlying assets or general investment performance. A unit-linked life insurance contract within the meaning of this Act does not refer to a contract, under which payments are made only in case of death, injury, illness or disability, or a contract related to the management of an occupational pension fund. (Insurance Activities Act § 222 (1))

Assessment of suitability and appropriateness and reporting to customers

IDD Art. 30(3) IAA § 222.1

An insurance undertaking does not need to assess the appropriateness of a unit-linked life insurance contract in accordance with § 222 of IAA, if the following conditions are met:

  1. the policyholder himself or herself has approached the insurance undertaking with the request to enter into such contract and the insurance undertaking has warned the policyholder that in such case the assessment of the appropriateness of the unit-linked life insurance contract is not required and therefore the interests of the policyholder may be less protected;
  2. the risk deriving from the underlying assets of the unit-linked life insurance contract is connected with non-complex securities within the meaning of the Securities Market Act and the structure of the unit-linked life insurance contract does not make it difficult for a policyholder to understand the risks deriving from the underlying assets or the unit-linked life insurance contract is not complex within the meaning of the Commission delegated regulation adopted under Article 30 (6) of Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

An insurance undertaking does not need to assess the suitability or appropriateness of a unit-linked life insurance contract for a policyholder if this is an insurance contract for a supplementary funded pension, which has been chosen for the policyholder and on the basis of which the insurance premiums for the policyholder are only paid by his or her employer.

An insurance undertaking does not need to assess the suitability or appropriateness of a unit-linked life insurance contract if the policyholder is a qualified investor within the meaning of subsections (6) 2)–22) of the Securities Market Act.

Other relevant information for a foreign insurance undertaking

An insurer from an EU Member State exercising the freedom to provide cross-border services by carrying on its activities in Estonia has to adhere thereat to the Insurance Activities Act (hereinafter referred to as IAA; in Estonian: kindlustustegevuse seadus), Motor Third Party Liability Insurance Act (hereinafter referred to as: MTPLIA; in Estonian: liikluskindlustuse seadus) and other legislation - Decrees of the Government of the Republic, Decrees of the Minister of Finance, a Decree of the Minister of Social Affairs - issued on the basis of the IAA and MTPLIA on the provision of services permissible for insurers and as well as the relevant Finantsinspektsioon’s guidelines.

When providing insurance services the rules of contract law and principles of consumer protection regulated in the Law of Obligations Act (in Estonian: võlaõigusseadus) and Consumer Protection Act (in Estonian: tarbijakaitseseadus) have to be followed, stating inter alia, that if insurance is marketed in Estonia to consumers or traders comparable to consumers, the insurance terms and conditions as well as other information given to the applicant and policyholder about the insurance must be provided in the applicant's or policyholder's native language if it is Estonian. The complaints of customers can be treated by the Consumer Protection Board as well as by Finantsinspektsioon.

With regard to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, the insurer when exercising the freedom to provide cross-border services in Estonia has to follow the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (hereinafter referred to as MLTFPA; in Estonian: rahapesu ja terrorismi rahastamise tõkestamise seadus), other legislation issued on the basis of MLTFPA and Finantsinspektsioon’s guidelines.

Apart from that, the insurer exercising the freedom to provide cross-border services in Estonia has to follow other requirements that have not been referred to above, but are provided for in the Estonian legislation applicable to the providers of non-life insurance services in Estonia. The Estonian legal acts are available in the Estonian language on the website www.riigiteataja.ee, both in the Estonian and in the English language on the website of the Legal Translation Centre www.legaltext.ee. The guidelines of the Finantsinspektsioon are available on the website of the Finantsinspektsioon.