A new decision by the Munich Higher Regional Court gives significant guidance for online insurance distribution activities which anticipates some of the new requirements under the Insurance Distribution Directive.

The court held that aggregators such as Check24 have to better inform and advise their website users before they conclude an insurance contract online. In particular, they should inform about policy exclusions and ask respective questions in order to find out the customer’s requirements. The court provided the following examples: When it is highly likely that a potential policyholder is a student, Check24 needs to give an alert that a student might also be covered under the household policy of his or her parents and that there is a risk of double insurance. With regard to leased vehicles, the aggregator website needs to inform the policyholder that there could be an issue with regard to commercial and/or corporate links between the workshop and the lessor. Check24 also needs to emphasize that it is not only an online comparison portal for insurance products, but that it also receives commission as an online insurance intermediary.