FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Martine Samuelian, Olivier Lyon Lynch and Hugues Vaysset, Jeantet
Thus, it reveals that the insurance sector accounts for 19% of entities that have reported major incidents since DORA came into force, making it the second most affected sector after credit institutions. Insur- ance and reinsurance companies and intermediaries face the same challenges as other financial entities, particularly in terms of meeting notification dead- lines, submitting ROIs and managing risks related to third-party service providers. The authorities plan to strengthen their supervision from 2026 onwards, with targeted checks on the most at-risk entities. Supervisory Findings and Expectations of the ACPR: Duty to Advise, Distribution and Customer Protection Extension and strengthening of the duty to advise The ACPR recommendation of 21 November 2024 sets out the best practices that all distributors of insur- ance products must comply with in terms of their duty to provide advice, both before the policy is taken out and throughout the life of the contract (in particu- lar with regard to gathering and taking into account information about the customer’s interests in terms of sustainability and their preferences in this area, and informing them accordingly). In addition, contact frequencies are recommended for life insurance (on the occasion of significant payments or surrenders, or failing that, every two to four years) and non-life insurance (on a periodic basis) in order to verify that the contract is appropriate to the customer’s needs. In this context, the ACPR reiterated in 2025 that the duty to provide advice now extends to all insurance products and must take into account customers’ preferences in terms of sustainability, in line with the EIOPA guide. This recommendation is fully applicable to insurance sector players from 31 December 2025. Supervisory findings on the information provided The ACPR’s checks on funeral and affinity contracts revealed a lack of contractual information, insuffi- cient transparency on fees and often standardised and inadequate advice, which led the ACPR to set out clear expectations for improvement.
In health insurance, the ACPR found deficiencies in information (incomplete, late), insufficient transparen- cy on remuneration, claims management and media- tion. Mystery visits to the telephony sector highlighted poor identification of needs and incomplete informa- tion on guarantees and exclusions. Value for money At its “Banking and Insurance Customer Protection Morning” in March 2025, the ACPR noted the “low added value of products”. In particular, in the context of non-bank insurance, where the claims/premiums ratio is very low (between 1% and 20%) with very high distribution commissions (from 40% to 80%) for low claim frequencies (less than 1% or even 0%) and sometimes high refusal rates (between 50% and 75%). In this context, the ACPR reiterated the need for indus- try players to take greater account of the customer’s interests when designing, distributing and monitoring products, particularly in light of the “product govern- ance” obligations to which insurers are subject. In this regard, Jean-Paul Faugère, Vice-President of the ACPR, reiterated in his opening speech that: “[...] this is not about reviving price controls for the benefit of a managed economy [...]. The fact remains that the supervisor, regardless of any European standards, in other words with or with- out RIS [Retail Investment Strategy], has a general duty to protect customers and, as such, must assess whether the asymmetry of information between the professional and the public creates a vulnerability to the detriment of the customer. [...] […] there are some S/P ratios that are so low that discussion is no longer relevant. This is the case for certain affinity insurance policies or para-banking products, with S/P ratios of a few per cent. The same applies when the commission rate exceeds 75% or the claim refusal rate exceeds 50%. In these cases, has the cover been overestimated by the customer, or was the customer really aware of the existence of the warranty? […]
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