The Financial Ombudsman filed a lawsuit against UNIQA TU S.A. insurer for using unfair market practices against clients purchasing the so-called costed Auto Casco variants. The Financial Ombudsman’s reservations concern the application of different criteria for estimating total and partial damage.
– As announced, we continue to file lawsuits against insurers offering unfair Auto Casco insurance terms. At the same time, we are in talks with those who have declared a voluntary change to the content of their contracts. I’m hoping that more insurers will join the latter group. This is also possible as part of a court settlement, says Prof. Dr. Habil. Mariusz Jerzy Golecki, the Financial Ombudsman.
Lawsuits of the Financial Ombudsman are filed pursuant to Article 12 of the Law on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices, i.e. in the interest of consumers as a whole. The Financial Ombudsman has reservations about the application of non-uniform criteria for evaluating the costs of repairing a damaged vehicle. It all depends on whether the insurer sees the possibility of admitting the so-called total loss, i.e. recognizing that repairing the vehicle is economically unjustified. In AC contracts it is standard to admit it if repair costs exceed 70% of the car’s value before the damage.
– To achieve this, insurers use the prices of the most expensive original parts with the logo of the car manufacturer and the highest possible labour costs used by authorized service stations. Crucially, such a proviso also applies to costed insurance variants. These are the ones in which the client agreed to fix the compensation according to flat rates for repair in the range of PLN 65 or PLN 90 or according to prices applied by repair shops other than ASO and using the cheapest, non-original parts. In our opinion, costs of a hypothetical repair for the purpose of determining the total loss should also be estimated according to such principles – explains Eliza Gużewska, Deputy Director of the Insurance and Pension Market Customer Division.
Previous actions by the Financial Ombudsman on this issue:
October 2021 – Financial Ombudsman settlement with InterRisk. On 24 September 2021 in the District Court in Warsaw a settlement was signed between the Financial Ombudsman and InterRisk, on the basis of which the Insurer will change the content of the General Conditions of Auto+ Package Insurance as required by the Financial Ombudsman, approved by Resolution no. 04/25/06/2019 of the Management Board of InterRisk
July 2021 – Another settlement in a dispute over the terms of Auto Casco contracts. The Court approved the settlement reached in mediation proceedings between the Financial Ombudsman and Ergo Hestia.
May 2021 – Generali TU S.A. introduces a change in the wording of the general terms and conditions of Auto-Casco insurance as postulated by the Financial Ombudsman.
August 2020 – The Financial Ombudsman called on four leading insurers – which together hold more than 50 per cent of the motor insurance market – to stop using unfair market practices. (go to the Communication on this issue)
September 2020 – The Financial Ombudsman sent a further nine summonses to stop unfair market practices in the settlement of motor AC claims. In this way, the Ombudsman’s activities covered all the major players in this segment. (go to the Communication on this issue)
December 2020 – The Financial Ombudsman filed the first unfair practice lawsuit against Auto Casco holders against one of the insurance companies (go to Information on this issue).
