Central Bank implements new Insurance Regulations
Executive Summary
The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) published the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Insurance Requirements) Regulations 2022 on 15 March 2022, banning price walking in motor and home insurance from 1 July 2022 to eliminate loyalty penalties for renewing customers while preserving new customer discounts and competition. This matters for compliance professionals as it imposes immediate prohibitions on differential pricing, mandatory annual reviews, enhanced renewal disclosures, and record-keeping, with CBI emphasizing ongoing oversight to ensure fair consumer outcomes. #
What Changed
- Ban on Price Walking: Insurance undertakings and intermediaries cannot charge renewing customers (defined as "relevant renewing customers") a premium higher than that charged to an equivalent year-one renewal consumer (EQFRP) for motor and home insurance policies. New customer discounts remain permitted to support competition. - Annual Pricing Reviews: Firms must conduct an annual review of motor and home insurance pricing policies and processes within two months of each year-end to ensure compliance, including controls to prevent price walking and adherence to Consumer Protection Code (CPC) General Principle 2.1. The first review is due by end-February 2023. - Automatic Renewal Disclosures: Firms must provide specific information to consumers before automatic renewals, including renewal
What You Need To Do
- Pricing Adjustments
- Conduct Reviews
- Enhance Communications
- Record Maintenance
- Internal Governance
- Testing/Training
Compliance Impact
Urgency: Medium (as of 2026). The regulations have been effective since 1 July 2022 with no transitional period, requiring immediate system/process overhauls at implementation; non-compliance risks enforcement under Section 48 of the 2013 Act. Ongoing annual reviews and CBI's commitment to monitoring pricing practices sustain medium-term priority, especially amid CBI's consumer protection focus, b
Who is Affected
Summary
Ban on price walking in motor and home insurance comes into effect on 1 July 2022. New customer discounts not affected. For automatic renewals, better information and reminders to be provided to encourage switching. The Central Bank of Ireland has today published the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Insurance Requirements) Regulations 2022 which will apply to insurance undertakings and insurance intermediaries from 1 July 2022. The Central Bank identified d...