After the bankruptcy of some important players on the Romanian insurance market, the law has significantly changed the procedure to be followed to obtain compensation. In this regard, on 22 September 2021, GEO 102/2021 came into force, which comes with amendments and additions to Law 213/2015. This prevents bottlenecks and various postponements based on a number of precedents generated by existing movements in the MTPL market. Among a series of updates on offences and penalties, one notable change refers to the increase of the guarantee ceiling up to 500,000 lei as well as the introduction of provisions on the determination of the amount of moral damages.
The Emergency Ordinance regulates a considerable reduction of the period from which the Insurers’ Guarantee Fund is entitled to make payments to insurance creditors, to 60 days from the date of publication in the Official Journal of Romania of the decision to withdraw the insurer’s operating licence, compared to the current situation where insurance creditors have to wait for a significant period of time, i.e. until the decision to open bankruptcy proceedings has become final, implicitly until a possible appeal against the decision to open bankruptcy proceedings has been settled.
The major changes include the following:
- modification of the definition of the guarantee ceiling
- increasing the amount of the guarantee ceiling from 450,000 lei to 500,000 lei
- the introduction of a provision according to which, from the amount due to the insurance creditor, the amounts owed by the creditor according to the insurance contract concluded between the parties shall be deducted
- regulating the competence of the Fund to open claims files
- the introduction of provisions on the determination of the amount of non-material damages
- express regulation of the fact that enforcement of enforceable titles obtained against the insurer in bankruptcy cannot be initiated against the Fund
- modification of the appeal against decisions of the Fund to refuse payment of the sums claimed
- introduction of the possibility for the Fund to take direct action against persons who have wrongfully received sums from the Fund
- updating of contraventions and penalties
- regulating the competence of the A.S.F. to appoint the Fund as interim administrator of an insurer
Up to 9 December 2021, payments were made for a total of 1,003 payment requests through the FGA, for a total amount of 2,268,736.40 lei. A new payment was made on 10 December 2021 in the amount of approx. 2,384,000 lei, for approx. 450 payment claims. To date, more than 1,450 claims have been settled. (information taken from www.zf.ro)
The ASF has produced a guide to help policyholders recover claims (compensation, indemnities, etc.) from the FGA. For this you will submit to the FGA:
– for compensation/indemnity: a reasoned request for payment accompanied by supporting documents. Follow the information available from the FGA and ASF for details.
– for the recovery of premiums paid in advance, in proportion to the time remaining until the expiry of the insurance: a request for payment (standard claim) accompanied by supporting documents.