Legal Duties

Decree-Law No. 144/2006, of 31 July

 

ARTICLE 29

General duties of the insurance intermediary

The general duties of the insurance intermediary are:

a) Enter into contracts on behalf of the insurance company only when it has been checked, written, or authorized;

b) Do not assume your own name for risk coverage;

c) Comply with legal and regulatory prohibitions applicable to the security activity and insurance mediation activity and do not intervene in the preservation of contracts that violate;

d) Assist correctly and efficiently the insurance contracts that intervene;

e) Diligence any sense of prevention of inaccurate or incomplete occurrences by the policyholder and situations that violate or constitute fraud to the law or that indicate situations of money laundering;

f) Keep professional secrecy, in relation to third parties, of the facts that I become aware of as a result of the exercise of its activity;

g) Display the certificate of registration as a mediator whenever requested by any interested party;

h) Maintain or register insurance contracts that are mediators, as well as the elements and information necessary to prevent capital branching;

i) Maintain a list with the identification of the people directly active in the mediation activity that is at your service;

j) Have your service or number of people directly active in the insurance mediation activity to be defined by the Insurance Institute of Portugal by regulatory rule, taking into account the size and importance of the mediator.

 

ARTICLE 30

Duties of the insurance intermediary towards insurance companies and other insurance intermediaries

Without prejudice to other duties established throughout this decree-law, the insurance mediator’s duties are to the insurance companies and other mediators who intervene in the contract:

a) Inform about risks to be covered and their particularities;

b) Inform about changes to the risks already covered that you are aware of and that may influence the conditions of the contract;

c) Render accounts under the legally and contractually established terms;

d) Act with loyalty;

e) Inform about all the facts of which it is aware and which may influence the settlement of claims.

 

ARTICLE 31

Duties of the insurance intermediary towards clients

Without prejudice to other duties established throughout this decree-law, the insurance mediator’s duties to clients are:

a) Inform, under the terms established by law and respective regulation, of the rights and duties that result from the conclusion of insurance contracts;

b) Advise, in a correct and detailed manner and in accordance with the requirements of the respective category of mediator, on the type of contract most suitable for the transfer of risk or investment;

c) Not to perform any acts related to an insurance contract without informing the respective policyholder in advance and obtaining their agreement;

d) To transmit to the insurance company, in due time, all the information, within the scope of the insurance contract, that the policyholder requests;

e) Provide the policyholder with all clarifications related to the insurance contract during its execution and during the pending conflicts arising from it;

f) Not to use another profession or position that he exercises, to condition the client’s business freedom;

g) Not to impose the obligation to conclude an insurance contract with a certain insurance company, as a condition of the client’s access to another good or service provided.

 

ARTICLE 32

INFORMATION DUTIES IN PARTICULAR

BEFORE ENTERING INTO ANY INITIAL INSURANCE CONTRACT AND, IF NECESSARY, WHEN CHANGING OR RENEWING IT, THE INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY MUST INFORM THE CLIENT AT LEAST:

A) YOUR IDENTITY AND ADDRESS;

B) THE REGISTRATION IN WHICH HE WAS REGISTERED, THE DATE OF REGISTRATION AND THE MEANS TO VERIFY WHETHER HE WAS ACTUALLY REGISTERED;

C) ANY PARTICIPATION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, GREATER THAN 10% IN THE VOTING RIGHTS OR IN THE CAPITAL HELD IN A GIVEN INSURANCE COMPANY;

D) ANY PARTICIPATION, DIRECT OR INDIRECT, GREATER THAN 10% IN THE VOTING RIGHTS OR IN THE CAPITAL OF THE INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY HELD BY A CERTAIN INSURANCE COMPANY, OR BY THE PARENT COMPANY OF A CERTAIN INSURANCE COMPANY;

E) WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO RECEIVE PREMIUMS TO BE DELIVERED TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY;

F) IF YOUR INTERVENTION ENDS WITH THE CONCLUSION OF THE INSURANCE CONTRACT OR IF YOUR INTERVENTION INVOLVES THE PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE THROUGHOUT THE TERM OF THE INSURANCE CONTRACT;

G) IF APPLICABLE, YOUR STATUS AS AN INSURANCE COMPANY WORKER;

H) THE CLIENT’S RIGHT TO REQUEST INFORMATION ON THE REMUNERATION THAT THE MEDIATOR WILL RECEIVE FOR THE PROVISION OF THE MEDIATION SERVICE AND, ACCORDINGLY, TO PROVIDE HIM, AT HIS REQUEST, WITH SUCH INFORMATION;

I) THE PROCEDURES, REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 65, WHICH ALLOW POLICYHOLDERS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES TO SUBMIT COMPLAINTS AGAINST INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES AND THE OUT-OF-COURT COMPLAINT AND REDRESS PROCEDURES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 43.

IN ADDITION, THE INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY MUST INDICATE TO THE CLIENT, REGARDING THE CONTRACT THAT IS PROPOSED:

A) YOUR ADVICE IS BASED ON THE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS UNDER PARAGRAPH 4; OR

B) IF IT HAS A CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION TO EXERCISE INSURANCE MEDIATION ACTIVITY EXCLUSIVELY FOR ONE OR MORE INSURANCE COMPANIES OR OTHER INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES; OR

C) IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION TO CARRY OUT INSURANCE MEDIATION ACTIVITY EXCLUSIVELY FOR ONE OR MORE INSURANCE COMPANIES OR INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES AND IF YOU DO NOT BASE YOUR ADVICE ON THE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 4;

D) IF OTHER INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES ARE INVOLVED IN THE CONTRACT, IDENTIFYING THEM.

IN THE CASES PROVIDED FOR IN PARAGRAPHS B) AND C) OF THE PREVIOUS NUMBER, THE INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY MUST INFORM THE CLIENT OF HIS RIGHT TO REQUEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE NAME OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY OR INSURANCE COMPANIES AND INTERMEDIARIES WITH WHOM HE WORKS AND ACCORDINGLY, YOU, AT YOUR REQUEST, SUCH INFORMATION.

WHEN THE INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY INFORMS THE CLIENT THAT HE BASES HIS ADVICE ON AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS, HE IS OBLIGED TO GIVE THAT ADVICE BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF INSURANCE CONTRACTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET TO ALLOW HIM TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, ACCORDING TO PROFESSIONAL CRITERIA , AS TO THE INSURANCE CONTRACT BEST SUITED TO THE CLIENT’S NEEDS.

BEFORE ENTERING INTO ANY INSURANCE CONTRACT, ANY INSURANCE INTERMEDIARY MUST, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ESPECIALLY THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE CLIENT AND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROPOSED INSURANCE CONTRACT, SPECIFY AT LEAST THE RESPECTIVE REQUIREMENTS AND NEEDS AND THE REASONS THAT GUIDED THE COUNCILS DATA FOR A PARTICULAR PRODUCT.

INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES ARE EXEMPT FROM PROVIDING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR IN THIS ARTICLE, WHEN THEY CARRY OUT MEDIATION ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COVERAGE OF MAJOR RISKS.

 

ARTICLE 33

Information conditions

The information provided under the previous article must be communicated:

a) On paper or any other durable medium accessible to the customer;

b) Clearly and accurately and in a manner understandable to the customer;

c) In an official language of the Member State of the commitment or in any other language agreed between the parties.

Durable media include, inter alia, computer diskettes, CD-ROMs, DVDs and the hard drive of the customer’s computer on which the email is stored, but do not include websites, unless they allow the customer to store information that are addressed to you personally, in such a way that they can be consulted later during a period suitable for the purposes of that information, and that allows an exact reproduction of the stored information.

By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraph a) of paragraph 1, the information referred to in the previous article may be provided orally, if the client so requests or when immediate coverage is required, however, immediately after the conclusion of the be provided on paper or other durable medium.

In the case of selling by telephone or by any other means of distance communication, the information referred to in the previous article must comply with the legal regime relating to the distance marketing of financial services, and must also, immediately after the conclusion of the insurance contract, be supplied on paper or other durable medium.

 

ARTICLE 34

Duties of the insurance intermediary towards the Insurance Institute of Portugal

Without prejudice to other duties established throughout this decree-law, the following are the duties of the insurance intermediary to the Insurance Institute of Portugal:

a) Provide, within the established deadlines, all necessary clarifications for the performance of its supervisory functions;

b) Inform of any changes to information previously provided in compliance with legal or regulatory provisions, within 30 days from the date of verification of these changes;

c) Inform of all changes to circumstances relevant to the fulfillment of access conditions, within 30 days from the date of verification of these changes;

d) Inform of the change in the members of the management body responsible for the mediation activity;

e) (Repealed);

f) Return the registration certificate in case of alteration, suspension or cancellation of registration.

 

ARTICLE 35

Specific duties of the insurance broker

The specific duties of the insurance broker are:

a) Suggest to the policyholder appropriate measures to prevent and reduce risk;

b) To guarantee the dispersion of the insurance portfolio under the terms that may be defined by regulatory rules of the Insurance Institute of Portugal;

c) Have a document approved by the management body, in which the training program of the people directly involved in the insurance mediation activity who are at your service is described in detail;

d) Have a system, whose operating principles are enshrined in a written document, which guarantees the equitable treatment of customers, the appropriate treatment of their personal data and the appropriate treatment of their complaints and complaints;

In the case of legal persons:

i) Even when this does not already result from the type of company, the articles of association or legal obligation, appoint a statutory auditor to carry out the statutory audit;

ii) Send annually to the Insurance Institute of Portugal, within 15 days after the approval of the accounts, in relation to the activity carried out in the immediately preceding year, the annual report and accounts, the opinion of the supervisory body and the legal accounts certification document issued by the statutory auditor and all other elements defined in a regulatory standard of the Instituto de Seguros de Portugal;

iii) Publish the accountability documents under the terms defined in a regulatory standard of the Insurance Institute of Portugal.