The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) has tipped its hand somewhat about recommendations that its committee on electronic commerce will be presenting in a forthcoming position paper in 2013.
Meeting notes from the CCIR’s meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I. last fall suggest that the committee’s forthcoming recommendations in 2013 will likely address the role of insurance brokers as advisors during the electronic purchase of insurance.
According to the notes, posted online, the committee will be making recommendations in the following four broad areas:
• “consumer access to additional information/advice from a licensed intermediary when using electronic channels;
• “the role and regulation of comparison shopping sites;
• “designating beneficiaries through electronic means, and
• “termination of insurance by the insurer through electronic means.”
The e-commerce committee is now preparing a position paper for consultation in 2013.
The CCIR made a call for submissions in 2012 on how to handle the electronic sales of insurance. A consultation paper at the time noted that while there is legislation in all Canadian jurisdictions governing electronic commerce in Canada, none applies specifically to financial products such as insurance.
The call for submissions had insurance brokers and broker associations across the country calling for regulations that would preserve the role for a broker’s advice in Internet insurance transactions..jpg)
