CHAPTER I

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Scope
Article 1
1
This Directive lays down rules for the taking-up and pursuit of the activities of insurance and reinsurance mediation by natural and legal persons which are established in a Member State or which wish to become established there.
2
This Directive shall not apply to persons providing mediation services for insurance contracts if all the following conditions are met:
a
the insurance contract only requires knowledge of the insurance cover that is provided;
b
the insurance contract is not a life assurance contract;
c
the insurance contract does not cover any liability risks;
d
the principal professional activity of the person is other than insurance mediation;
e
the insurance is complementary to the product or service supplied by any provider, where such insurance covers:
1. the risk of breakdown, loss of or damage to goods supplied by that provider, or
2. damage to or loss of baggage and other risks linked to the travel booked with that provider, even if the insurance covers life assurance or liability risks, provided that the cover is ancillary to the main cover for the risks linked to that travel;
f
the amount of the annual premium does not exceed EUR 500 and the total duration of the insurance contract, including any renewals, does not exceed five years.
3
This Directive shall not apply to insurance and reinsurance mediation services provided in relation to risks and commitments located outside the Community.
This Directive shall not affect a Member State's law in respect of insurance mediation business pursued by insurance and reinsurance intermediaries established in a third country and operating on its territory under the principle of freedom to provide services, provided that equal treatment is guaranteed to all persons carrying out or authorised to carry out insurance mediation activities on that market.
This Directive shall not regulate insurance mediation activities carried out in third countries nor activities of Community insurance or reinsurance undertakings, as defined in First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance and First Council Directive 79/267/EEC of 5 March 1979 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct life assurance , carried out through insurance intermediaries in third countries.

Definitions
Article 2
For the purpose of this Directive:
1. ‘insurance undertaking’ means an undertaking which has received official authorisation in accordance with Article 6 of Directive 73/239/EEC or Article 6 of Directive 79/267/EEC;
2. ‘reinsurance undertaking’ means an undertaking, other than an insurance undertaking or a non-member-country insurance undertaking, the main business of which consists in accepting risks ceded by an insurance undertaking, a non-member-country insurance undertaking or other reinsurance undertakings;
3. ‘insurance mediation’ means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, or of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim.
With the exception of Chapter III A of this Directive, those activities, when undertaken by an insurance undertaking or an employee of an insurance undertaking who is acting under the responsibility of the insurance undertaking shall not be considered to be insurance mediation or insurance distribution.
The provision of information on an incidental basis in the context of another professional activity provided that the purpose of that activity is not to assist the customer in concluding or performing an insurance contract, the management of claims of an insurance undertaking on a professional basis, and loss adjusting and expert appraisal of claims shall also not be considered as insurance mediation;
4. ‘reinsurance mediation’ means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of reinsurance, or of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim.
These activities when undertaken by a reinsurance undertaking or an employee of a reinsurance undertaking who is acting under the responsibility of the reinsurance undertaking are not considered as reinsurance mediation.
The provision of information on an incidental basis in the context of another professional activity provided that the purpose of that activity is not to assist the customer in concluding or performing a reinsurance contract, the management of claims of a reinsurance undertaking on a professional basis, and loss adjusting and expert appraisal of claims shall also not be considered as reinsurance mediation;
5. ‘insurance intermediary’ means any natural or legal person who, for remuneration, takes up or pursues insurance mediation;
6. ‘reinsurance intermediary’ means any natural or legal person who, for remuneration, takes up or pursues reinsurance mediation;
7. ‘tied insurance intermediary’ means any person who carries on the activity of insurance mediation for and on behalf of one or more insurance undertakings in the case of insurance products which are not in competition but does not collect premiums or amounts intended for the customer and who acts under the full responsibility of those insurance undertakings for the products which concern them respectively.
Any person who carries on the activity of insurance mediation in addition to his principal professional activity is also considered as a tied insurance intermediary acting under the responsibility of one or several insurance undertakings for the products which concern them respectively if the insurance is complementary to the goods or services supplied in the framework of this principal professional activity and the person does not collect premiums or amounts intended for the customer;
8. ‘large risks’ shall be as defined by Article 5(d) of Directive 73/239/EEC;
9. ‘home Member State’ means:
  1. where the intermediary is a natural person, the Member State in which his residence is situated and in which he carries on business;
  2. where the intermediary is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated or, if under its national law it has no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated;
10. ‘host Member State’ means the Member State in which an insurance or reinsurance intermediary has a branch or provides services;
11. ‘competent authorities’ means the authorities which each Member State designates under Article 7;
12. ‘durable medium’ means any instrument which enables the customer to store information addressed personally to him in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate to the purposes of the information and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored.
In particular, durable medium covers floppy disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs and hard drives of personal computers on which electronic mail is stored, but it excludes Internet sites, unless such sites meet the criteria specified in the first paragraph;
13. For the purposes of Chapter IIIA,
‘
insurance-based investment product
’
means an insurance product which offers a maturity or surrender value and where that maturity or surrender value is wholly or partially exposed, directly or indirectly, to market fluctuations and shall not include:
  1. non-life insurance products as listed in Annex I of Directive 2009/138/EC (Classes of Non-life Insurance);
  2. life insurance contracts where the benefits under the contract are payable only on death or in respect of incapacity due to injury, sickness or infirmity;
  3. pension products which, under national law, are recognised as having the primary purpose of providing the investor with an income in retirement, and which entitles the investor to certain benefits;
  4. officially recognised occupational pension schemes falling under the scope of Directive 2003/41/EC or Directive 2009/138/EC;
  5. individual pension products for which a financial contribution from the employer is required by national law and where the employer or the employee has no choice as to the pension product or provider.
OJ L 228, 16.8.1973, p. 3. Directive as last amended by Directive 2002/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 77, 20.3.2002, p. 17).
OJ L 63, 13.3.1979, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2002/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 77, 20.3.2002, p. 11).
Substituted by Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (recast) (Text with EEA relevance).
Inserted by Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (recast) (Text with EEA relevance).