Insurance Arbitrator in Italy

On 9 January 2025 the Decree of the Ministry of Business and Industry no. 215 of 6 November 2024 has been published in the Italian Official Gazette together with the Regulation on the Criteria for the Conduct of Out-of-Court Settlement Procedures in Insurance (the "Regulation").

The Regulation disciplines the institution of the Insurance Arbitrator (the "Insurance Arbitrator"), i.e., the out-of-court dispute resolution system already provided for in the Consumer Code and the Italian Code of Private Insurance ("CAP").

Specifically, the Insurance Arbitrator is established at the Italian Insurance Regulatory Authority ("IVASS"), and it deals with disputes arising from an insurance contract concerning the ascertainment of rights, including compensation, obligations and faculties inherent in the insurance performance and services or failure to comply with the rules of conduct provided for in the CAP inherent the exercise of insurance distribution business.

Moreover, when the Insurance Arbitrator deals with disputes concerning the claim for compensation, it must not exceed the following amounts:

- for disputes relating to life insurance contracts:

- EUR 300,000.00 if the dispute concerns class I life insurance contracts and the premium is payable only in the event of death; and,

- EUR 150,000.00 if the dispute concerns class I life insurance contracts (and the premium is payable only in the event of death) and contracts of the other life insurance classes.

- for disputes relating to non-life insurance contracts:

-EUR 2,500.00 if the dispute concerns the right to compensation for damages for third-party liability and is brought by the injured third-party holder of a direct action against the insurance undertaking of the liable party; and,

-??????? EUR 25,000.00 in all other cases.

Excluded from the jurisdiction of the Insurance Arbitrator are disputes (i) concerning claims administered by the Hunting and Road Victims' Guarantee Fund; (ii) those under the jurisdiction of CONSAP and (iii) disputes concerning large risks.

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It is provided by the Regulation that insurance undertakings and intermediaries join the Insurance Arbitrator without the need for special notices. However,? insurance and reinsurance undertakings with head office in another country of the European Economic Area (EEA) licensed to carry on business in Italy under the right of establishment or freedom to provide services and intermediaries referred to in the list annexed to the RUI, which do not adhere to the Insurance Arbitrator system, are required to notify IVASS indicating, at the same time, another out-of-court dispute resolution system to which they adhere or to which they are subjected in the country of origin within the Fin.Net network.

As for the purely procedural and composition aspects of the alternative dispute resolution body in question, it should be noted that:

- the Insurance Arbitrator decides with the help of one or more panels each of which consists of five members;

- under penalty of inadmissibility the lodging of the appeal to the Insurance Arbitrator must be preceded by the submission of a complaint to the competent insurance undertaking or intermediary, which must give its decision within the time limits laid down by the ISVAP Regulation No. 24/2008;

- if these time limits elapse without a response from the insurance undertaking or intermediary or the client is not satisfied with the response, he/she may, within 12 months of sending the complaint, refer the matter to the Insurance Arbitrator, with the exception for the possibility of making a claim for compensation and provided that such damages are represented in the complaint as an immediate and direct consequence of the conduct highlighted in the complaint;

- the appeal shall be transmitted exclusively by telematic means according to the modalities that will be provided by IVASS;

- the appeal will then be notified without delay to the company or the intermediary by the technical secretariat of the Insurance Arbitrator;

- the company or intermediary shall execute the decision within 30 days of its notification and within five days thereafter shall submit the appropriate documentation to the technical secretariat of the Insurance Arbitrator; failure to do so shall be considered as non-compliance.

Finally, the Regulation is scheduled to come into force on January 24, 2025.

However, the actual operability of the Insurance Arbitrator is subject to a special declaration by IVASS which, as provided for in the Regulations, must be published no later than five months after the publication of the technical and implementing provisions that the Regulation entrusts IVASS to publish within four months of the entry into force of the Regulation.