Insurance law is one of the leading practices in our Law Firm. Our experience covers the entire spectrum of activities of insurance companies and insurance intermediaries, as well as other participants in the insurance market.
The Insurance Law Practice has been recognised in the prestigious Legal 500 EMEA ranking (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) and in the 2018 Ranking of Law Firms of the Rzeczpospolita journal.
Selected experience of our Law Firm in this area:
Advising insurance companies:
· formation of insurance companies;
· drafting contracts related to the performance of insurance activities;
· drafting and reviewing internal documentation of insurance company;
· drafting of insurance products, including model contracts, T&Cs and all insurance documentation, and providing opinions on legal compliance, including regulations governing unlawful clauses;
· advising on manufacturing of unit-linked insurance products, including drafting and negotiation of agreements with entities managing insurance funds and creating structured products for these funds;
· development and legal assessment of distribution models;
· drafting and reviewing agency agreements for various distribution models;
· drafting and reviewing contracts in the bancassurance model;
· drafting and reviewing direct distribution model;
· representation of insurance companies in all types of litigation proceedings, including group proceedings;
· representation of insurance companies before the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and before the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection in cases involving unlawful clauses and proceedings involving allegations of practices that infringe collective consumer interests;
· advice on and drafting legal solutions in the area of voluntary health insurance;
· advice on personal data processing and protection by insurance companies;
· drafting complete documentation related to the processing of personal data;
· advice on relations of insurance companies with the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection;
· advice on relations of insurance market entities with insurance market regulators – the PFSA, the IGF, the PMIB, the Insurance Ombudsman, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection;
· comprehensive legal assistance during inspections by the PFSA;
· advice on AML regulations;
· development and conducting professional training under the Insurance Distribution Act.
Advising insurance intermediaries:
· drafting of contracts related to the performance of insurance intermediation activities;
· drafting and reviewing internal regulations for agents and brokers, including regulations on cooperation with and supervision over persons performing insurance distribution activities;
· drafting and assessment of insurance distribution process in various distribution channels – stationary network, call centre, online;
· development and legal assessment of distribution models;
· drafting and reviewing agency agreements, brokerage agreements, courtage agreements, service agreements;
· conducting legal audits for compliance with regulations governing insurance distribution;
· implementation of legal solutions in the process of insurance distribution and procedures resulting from regulations governing insurance distribution;
· comprehensive legal assistance during inspection by the PFSA;
· representation of agents and brokers in all types of litigation proceedings, including administrative proceedings conducted by the PFSA;
· advice on insurance intermediaries’ relations with insurance market regulators – the PFSA, the Insurance Ombudsman, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection;
· advice on personal data processing and protection by agents and brokers;
· drafting of complete documentation related to the processing of personal data by agents and brokers;
· advice on relations of insurance intermediaries with the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection;
· advice on AML regulations;
· development and conducting of professional training under the Insurance Distribution Act.
Advising foreign insurance companies and foreign insurance intermediaries:
· cross-border mergers of insurance companies (first on the Polish market);
· comprehensive legal services to foreign entities – agents, brokers and insurance companies on legal and regulatory issues related to the commencement of insurance activity and insurance intermediation activity in Poland, in particular under freedom to provide services (FOS) and freedom of establishment (FOE) principle; advice on notification procedure and relations with the PFSA, the IGF, the PMIB and the Insurance Ombudsman;
· establishment of a branch of a foreign insurance company and development of a full range of internal regulations, product documentation, distribution models;
· establishment of a branch of a foreign insurance agent and development of legal documentation for the implementation of an insurance distribution model in Poland and cooperation with domestic insurance companies;
· development and conducting training courses and examinations for persons applying to perform agency activities on behalf of foreign insurance companies;
· drafting legal opinions for foreign insurance companies, including in the field of assessing the legitimacy of establishing a branch vs. providing services on a FOS basis;
· drafting legal opinions for foreign insurance companies in respect of cooperation with insurance agents;
· drafting and legal assessment of foreign insurance companies’ products and insurance documentation prior to the implementation of insurance sales in Poland;
· ongoing legal advice to foreign insurance companies and foreign insurance intermediaries on services provided in Poland, including representation before insurance market regulators and courts.
