ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Giovanna Aucone and Debora Gobbo, FIVERS Studio Legale e Tributario
5. Distribution 5.1 Distribution of Insurance and Reinsurance Products The distribution of insurance and reinsurance prod- ucts in Italy is governed by the CAP and supplement- ing regulations issued by IVASS, in particular IVASS Regulation No 40/2018. A necessary requirement to take up distribution in Italy is the registration in the Single Register of Intermedi- aries (RUI) or – in case of distributors from other EU member states that participate in the Italian market under the principle of freedom to provide services (FOS) or freedom of establishment (FOE) – its Annex. Italian law recognises six types of intermediaries, and the RUI provides a section for each type of intermedi- ary. • Insurance agents (Section A) – acting as intermedi- aries on behalf of one or more insurance or reinsur- ance companies. • Insurance or reinsurance brokers (Section B) – act- ing as intermediaries on behalf of the client and without powers of representation of insurance or reinsurance companies. • Direct producers (Section C) who, even on a subsidiary basis to their main activity, carry out insurance intermediation in the life, accident and health branches, on behalf of and under the full responsibility of an insurance undertaking and who operate without any obligation as to working hours or results exclusively for that undertaking. • Banks, financial intermediaries, payment institu- tions, SIMs and Poste Italiane spa – Bancoposta Services Division (Section D). • Persons engaged in distribution activities outside the premises of the intermediary, registered in Sections A, B, D or F, for whom they work, insur- ance intermediaries acting on an ancillary basis on behalf of another intermediary, as well as persons employed by intermediaries registered in Section E who work outside the latter’s premises (Section E). • Ancillary insurance intermediaries (Section F) – operating on behalf of one or more insurance companies.
IVASS Regulation No 40/2018 establishes the require- ments and conditions for the registration with the sin- gle Sections of the RUI. All distributors are obliged to take out civil liability insurance in relation to the distribution activity. 6. Making an Insurance Contract 6.1 Obligations of the Insured and Insurer Insurance contracts are based on the risk assessment carried out by the insurer on the basis of the informa- tion disclosed by the insured. Therefore, a correct and truthful disclosure of all relevant circumstances by the insured is of upmost importance for the determination of insured risk, the calculation of the premium and the overall determination of the terms of coverage. The insured has a duty to provide all relevant informa- tion about the risk. This means declaring any circum- stance that may affect the likelihood of the insured event occurring or the severity of its consequences. This obligation is governed by Article 1892 et seq of the Italian Civil Code. If the risk changes after the contract has been con- cluded, the insured must promptly inform the insurer, who has the right to withdraw from the insurance con- tract within two months from the day on which the notification was made. On the other hand, the insurer is held to take the ini - tiative to obtain all information required to assess the risk, for example through the use of pre-contractual questionnaires. The Italian legislator has established a right of onco- logical oblivion in favour of persons that have been afflicted by cancer and have been cured without remission for a determined period. With regard to oncological conditions, the insurer is held to inform the prospect about his/her rights and to omit queries that aim at the obtainment of information the insured is not held to give.
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