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This edited volume examines how recent technological innovations are transforming European insurance law, focusing on critical issues such as transparency, information duties, fairness, and the regulation of insurance contracts for both professional and private policyholders. While new business models, like digital platforms and robo-advisory services, are rapidly emerging, European law has yet to provide a sufficiently tailored regulatory response. The current sectoral framework, notably Directive (EU) 2016/97 on insurance distribution (IDD), offers a general, principle-based approach, but lacks the specificity needed to effectively address innovative digital insurance distribution models. In parallel, broader regulatory initiatives such as the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) are poised to reshape the digital insurance ecosystem. The EU AI Act introduces horizontal rules governing AI systems, including those used in automated underwriting, risk profiling, and robo-advisory services, thereby directly affecting the design and accountability of algorithmic tools in insurance distribution, especially those deemed high-risk. The DSA imposes new responsibilities on digital platforms, with potential implications for InsurTech firms acting as intermediaries or aggregators. Additionally, there is ongoing uncertainty as to whether existing consumer protection instrument, such as the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (93/13/EEC), the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC), and the Omnibus Directive (2019/2161/EC), are sufficient to address the novel risks and challenges posed by digital insurance services. Meanwhile, regulatory guidance from supervisory bodies such as EIOPA and national authorities is increasingly addressing InsurTech-related legal questions in a more targeted manner. By providing a normative and comparative legal analysis, this volume addresses a significant gap in current scholarship. It calls on legal scholars and insurance experts to reassess the role of technology in shaping EU insurance law and to reflect on whether the regulatory principle of technological neutrality remains viable. Ultimately, the book argues for an integrated regulatory approach that aligns socio-technical governance with the specific demands of insurance law, ensuring effective consumer protection in an increasingly digital landscape.
List of contents
Part I Challenges and Opportunities New Business Models, AI and Data in the Insurance Sector.- Digital Insurance under the Interplay of EU Sectoral Regulation, the Digital Acquis and Consumer Law.- Innovation and Insurance Law in Legal History.- Normative Considerations in Data-driven Personalisation of Consumer Insurance Contracts.- Automated Personalisation and Consumer Insurtech in European Law: Prospects and Challenges.- The Impact of Technology on Information Asymmetry in Insurance.- The Impact of Technology on Information Asymmetry in Insurance. The Case of the Pre-contractual Disclosure?.- Automating Compliance Assessment of Insurance Contracts Using AI: Promises and Challenges.- Data Protection Rights and Automated Decision-Making in the Field of Insurance.- How Do Consumers Inform Themselves About Insurance Products in the Digital Age? Analysing the Results of a Consumer Survey.- Supervisory Authorities as Value Creators in the Age of Digitalization: Towards an Ecosystem View of the Insurance Industry.- Part II Specific Applications of Digitalisation in the Insurance Sector.- Smart Contracts in Insurance Law.- Smart Contracts and the Oracle Problem in the Context of InsurTech.- Insurance Contract law and Smart Vehicles under French law.- Robo-Directors and D&O Insurance Markets: An Assessment.
About the author
Cristina Poncibò is a Professor of Comparative Private Law at the University of Turin’s Law Department, Italy, and an Affiliate at Collegio Carlo Alberto. She has published extensively on issues at the intersection of technology and Comparative Private Law and teaches Comparative Private Law, Platforms and the Law, and Digital Competition Law.
Piotr Tereszkiewicz is a Professor of Private Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and a Senior Research Affiliate at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium). He has published extensively on comparative contract, commercial, and consumer law and teaches Comparative Private Law, International Commercial Contracts, and Insurance Law.
Summary
This edited volume examines how recent technological innovations are transforming European insurance law, focusing on critical issues such as transparency, information duties, fairness, and the regulation of insurance contracts for both professional and private policyholders. While new business models, like digital platforms and robo-advisory services, are rapidly emerging, European law has yet to provide a sufficiently tailored regulatory response. The current sectoral framework, notably Directive (EU) 2016/97 on insurance distribution (IDD), offers a general, principle-based approach, but lacks the specificity needed to effectively address innovative digital insurance distribution models. In parallel, broader regulatory initiatives such as the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) are poised to reshape the digital insurance ecosystem. The EU AI Act introduces horizontal rules governing AI systems, including those used in automated underwriting, risk profiling, and robo-advisory services, thereby directly affecting the design and accountability of algorithmic tools in insurance distribution, especially those deemed high-risk. The DSA imposes new responsibilities on digital platforms, with potential implications for InsurTech firms acting as intermediaries or aggregators. Additionally, there is ongoing uncertainty as to whether existing consumer protection instrument, such as the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (93/13/EEC), the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC), and the Omnibus Directive (2019/2161/EC), are sufficient to address the novel risks and challenges posed by digital insurance services. Meanwhile, regulatory guidance from supervisory bodies such as EIOPA and national authorities is increasingly addressing InsurTech-related legal questions in a more targeted manner. By providing a normative and comparative legal analysis, this volume addresses a significant gap in current scholarship. It calls on legal scholars and insurance experts to reassess the role of technology in shaping EU insurance law and to reflect on whether the regulatory principle of technological neutrality remains viable. Ultimately, the book argues for an integrated regulatory approach that aligns socio-technical governance with the specific demands of insurance law, ensuring effective consumer protection in an increasingly digital landscape.
