Warning on proposed EIU data protection rule

The cost of insurance premiums in Europe could rise if the EU doesn’t make important changes to a set of data protection rules which it is currently considering, according to Insurance Europe.

The federation believes that the current wording of the proposed rules would enable people to demand the removal of their data from insurers’ databases. This would have several negative effects on the insurance market which would ultimately result in higher prices for people buying insurance.

IE says that these include:making it harder for insurers to fight fraud, because they would no longer possess or be able to process the data required to identify fraudsters; stopping insurers from performing their contractual obligations towards policyholders who ask for their data to be deleted, because the insurer will no longer be able to process the data they need to handle insurance claims and pay compensation; impeding insurers in complying with other regulations which require them to process policyholder data.

Reported by Insurance People on 25th January 2015