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The "Dematerialized" Insurance pp 143–167Cite as

Online Sales of Insurance Products in the EU

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Abstract

The chapter is an attempt to describe the marketing techniques behind online sales, the concerns raised for consumer protection therefrom, and how the EU legislation has responded to such techniques and concerns. Electronic commerce, including online sales, is of particular importance nowadays, and a strong EU policy has been developed in this respect. At the same time, online sales raise particular concerns regarding contract conclusion and consumer protection. From the legal point of view, there are insurance sales, particularly those relating to investment and life insurance, where the insurer is required to properly advise the insured; in online sales, it is difficult to efficiently provide such advice on a precontractual stage. The purpose of this essay is to identify how the EU legislation tries to strike a balance between the policy of facilitating electronic commerce and the policy of consumer protection, whether this attempt is successful, and what the possible further improvements are.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On recent technological and marketing developments on online sales, see Heinemann and Schwarzl (2010), p. 19 seqq.

  2. 2.

    Heinemann and Schwarzl (2010), p. 210 seqq.

  3. 3.

    Kotler and Armstrong (2011), p. 497.

  4. 4.

    Heinemann and Schwarzl (2010), p. 45 seqq.

  5. 5.

    Kotler and Armstrong (2011), p. 494.

  6. 6.

    Kotler and Keller (2012), p. 235.

  7. 7.

    Heinemann and Schwarzl (2010), pp. 210 seqq., 215 seqq.

  8. 8.

    Kotler and Armstrong (2011), pp. 497–498.

  9. 9.

    Heinemann and Schwarzl (2010), p. 134 seqq.

  10. 10.

    Kotler and Keller (2012), pp. 204–205.

  11. 11.

    Kotler and Keller (2012), p. 197.

  12. 12.

    Kotler and Keller (2012), p. 220.

  13. 13.

    Kotler and Armstrong (2011), p. 499.

  14. 14.

    See also Hiwarker and Khot (2013), pp. 1–6; Meshkat et al. (2012), p. 640.

  15. 15.

    Anagnostopoulou (2013).

  16. 16.

    Geist (2010).

  17. 17.

    Boss and Kilian (2008), Faria (ICLQ 2006), p. 689.

  18. 18.

    See OECD Guidelines on the protection of privacy and trans-border flows of personal data (1980), OECD Guidelines on e-consumer protection (1999). With respect to Council of Europe, see The Council’s Convention on the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data (1981).

  19. 19.

    See the following Directives: 1995/46 as amended, and 2002/58 on personal data, 1998/34 as amended on the information society, 1999/93 on e-signatures, 2000/31 on e-commerce, 2002/65 on e-financial services, 2006/123 on e-services, 2006/112 on e-billing and vat, etc.

  20. 20.

    COM (2003) 702 final, 21.11.2003.

  21. 21.

    Kastberg Nielsen C. et al. (Ramboll Management).

  22. 22.

    On this new EU policy, see more details in Anagnostopoulou (2013), p. 10.

  23. 23.

    SEC (2011) 1640 final, 11.1.2012.

  24. 24.

    SEC (2011) 1641 final, 11.1.2012.

  25. 25.

    On the new consumer protection Directive, see also the DG Justice Guidance Document concerning Dir. 2011/83, dated June 2014.

  26. 26.

    EU Commission, A comprehensive approach to data protection in the EU, COM (2010) p. 609, 4.11.2010.

  27. 27.

    EU Commission, DG Internal Market, Financial Services—Insurance, MARKT/2522/02-EN Rev. 1 Orig. This is followed by another EU document on E-Commerce and Financial Services, MARKT/2094/01-EN Orig.

  28. 28.

    MARKT 2541/03—EN Orig., 24.10.2003.

  29. 29.

    This exception is confirmed by par. 18 of the preamble of Dir. 2002/65 EC.

  30. 30.

    This Directive amends prior Directives 90/619, 97/7, and 98/27 EC. Directive 2002/65 has been amended by Directives 2005/29 and 2007/64 EC.

  31. 31.

    See the EU discussion papers on E-Commerce and insurance mentioned above: MARKT/2522/02 and MARKT 2541/03—EN Orig., 24.10.2003.

  32. 32.

    DG Justice Guidance document on Dir. 2011/83 (June 2014), par. 4.2, p. 18.

  33. 33.

    In case C-166/11, 1.3.12, A.L. Gonzalez Alonso v. NN, the Court reasoned that a unit-linked policy falls outside the scope of Dir. 85/577, which is the predecessor of Dir. 2011/83 and deals with distance sales of goods and services other than financial services. Obviously, although unit-linked policies do not fall within Dir. 85/577, they do fall within the scope of Dir. 2002/65.

  34. 34.

    An express reference to intermediaries is to be found in par. 19 of the preamble of Dir. 2002/65 EC.

  35. 35.

    The legislative definition of a “distance contract” in art. 2 (a) of Dir. 2002/65 EC expressly refers to consumers only, thus excluding business entities, businessmen, and professionals.

  36. 36.

    See paras. 1 and 2 of the preamble of Dir. 2000/31 on electronic commerce.

  37. 37.

    de Meza et al. (2007).

References

Books

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Online Documents

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Laws, University of Athens, Attorney at Law at Athens, 12 Solonos street, Athens, 10673, Greece

    Christos S. Chrissanthis Ph.D, LL.M. (Assistant Professor)

Authors
  1. Christos S. Chrissanthis Ph.D, LL.M.
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Correspondence to Christos S. Chrissanthis Ph.D, LL.M. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Banking, Finance and Insurance Sciences, , Milan, Milano, Italy

    Pierpaolo Marano

  2. Department of Business Administration, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Attiki, Greece

    Ioannis Rokas

  3. School of Law, University of Connecticut, , Hartford, Connecticut, USA

    Peter Kochenburger

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Chrissanthis, C.S. (2016). Online Sales of Insurance Products in the EU. In: Marano, P., Rokas, I., Kochenburger, P. (eds) The "Dematerialized" Insurance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28410-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28410-1_6

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