Warning (08.04.2022)
The Financial Supervisory Authority warns that, recently, several entities that are not authorised to carry out insurance activity have been active in the Romanian insurance market, especially in insurance class 15 - Guarantees. For this reason, we recommend that, before concluding insurance contracts/policies, you check whether:
the insurance companies that are to issue the insurance policies, as well as the intermediaries involved in the distribution activity are listed in the A.S.F. public register;
the offers received are genuine and valid, by directly contacting the insurance companies involved using the official contact details of these entities. Careful attention must also be paid to checking the quality of the persons intermediating or recommending the use of the insurance products concerned.
According to the legal provisions (art. 12 of Law no. 236/2018 on insurance distribution) it is necessary to expressly request insurance companies and intermediaries to provide the following information in due time before the conclusion of an insurance contract: their identity and address; the status of intermediary or insurer held, as the case may be; the register in which they are registered and how this can be verified.
Insurance entities can legally operate in Romania only if they are registered in the A.S.F. public register, which can be consulted on the A.S.F. website HERE .
The register of insurance companies and main intermediaries can be found HERE
The register of EEA insurers and intermediaries, entities notified to the competent authorities of their home countries for carrying on business under the right of establishment and/or the freedom to provide services, can be found HERE.
If you identify insurance companies and/or brokers through whom you receive the offer, which are not listed in the public registers mentioned above, we recommend that you notify the A.S.F. as soon as possible and provide information about the insurance company, the intermediary through whom the offer was received, as well as any available documents received from them.
The A.S.F. pays particular attention to the protection of consumers of non-bank financial products. In this context, it receives and responds to all petitions, referrals, complaints and requests for information concerning the insurance-reinsurance activity in Romania, which is carried out by companies authorised and supervised by the A.S.F., from persons who are legally entitled to formulate petitions or requests for information.
The A.S.F. may not intervene directly in the supervision and control of an insurance undertaking authorised by another competent authority of an EEA Member State. Therefore, petitions concerning the activity of an insurer marketing insurance in Romania under the freedom to provide services must be addressed to the competent authority of the home Member State which has authorised that company. Petitions will be forwarded to this authority in accordance with specific national rules.
With reference to the provisions of Law no. 213/2015 on the Insurers' Guarantee Fund (FGA), as subsequently amended, we note that only insurers authorized by the A.S.F., including their branches, operating on the territory of another Member State of the European Union, are contributors, and the Fund, as a guarantee scheme in the insurance sector, aims to protect insurance creditors from the consequences of their insolvency.
The Insurers' Guarantee Fund may not grant compensation in cases where the insurer is authorised in another Member State and carries on business in Romania on the basis of the freedom to provide services and is unable to pay compensation as a result of potential insolvency/bankruptcy.