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Lebanon: Call for insurance law to catch up with online business

Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2018

Several insurance industry executives have called for an update to the insurance legislation for it to catch up with online insurance services.
 
   “The insurance industry is changing, it is reinventing itself,” said Mr Fateh Bekdache, General Manager of Arope. The current legal framework lags behind the market, a situation which hampers the development of online insurance in Lebanon, he said, according to Hebdo.
 
   Mr Raed Labaki, Chief Market Management Officer at Allianz SNA, said the sector in Lebanon should coordinate more with the authorities to modernise insurance legislation to promote online business. He added that the development of digital insurance will not only generate economic growth and create jobs, especially for young people, it will also make insurance more easily accessible to customers, especially Millennials.
 
   Human contact and personal relationships still remain important to Lebanese customers in choosing their insurance company and insurance cover, according to Mr Joe Nasnas, Director of Operations at AXA Middle East. Nevertheless, AXA Middle East is closely following industry changes. At present, the insurer offers an online facility to buy covers such as travel insurance and compulsory third-party auto insurance.
 
   He said one legal obstacle to the adoption of digital insurance is the absence of legislation on the electronic signature. This gap makes it difficult to present evidence in cases of dispute.
 
   Apart from the legal framework, Mr Bekdache highlighted several other factors that slow down the adoption of e-commerce in Lebanon. For example, broadband internet throughout Lebanon is still under-developed. In addition, people are wary of the risk of cybercrime and concerned about the effectiveness of cyber security.
 
   A completely new insurance legislation has been considered for several years now by the Insurance Control Commission. For the moment, the regulator has announced its intention to amend regulations that govern the sale of insurance products by banks to tighten supervision over bancassurance. M 
 
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