Algeria: Regulator orders motor insurers to adhere to pricing protocol
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Feb 2023
The Insurance Supervisory Commission (ISC) of the Finance Ministry has started out the new year calling out motor insurers, several of whom have violated a multilateral MoU on motor insurance pricing.
The ISC said that several transgressions have been recorded in motor insurance and ordered insurance companies to put an end to them and to implement the provisions of the multilateral protocol, which was signed by all insurers.
A reminder to this effect was sent to the Algerian Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (UAR), signed on 5 January 2023 by the ISC president Abdelkrim Bouzred, according to local media reports. In turn, the UAR sent a note to insurance companies to remind them of the need to adhere to the multilateral agreement.
This is not the first time that motor insurers have been ordered to comply with the MoU. Previous directives failed to produce results in the absence of sanctions against offenders.
The MoU was signed by all motor insurers in 2017, approved by the insurance regulator, and entered into force in January 2021. It regulates the discounts granted by insurance companies to customers on motor insurance premiums. Discounts are capped at 50% to fight against unfair competition that was undermining the automobile branch that had become unprofitable.
To enforce the MoU, the ISC directed the UAR to reactivate the vigilance committee to monitor cases of non-compliance. The committee is to hold periodic meetings to determine the extent of insurance companies’ commitment to observing the protocol. Violations are to be brought to the attention of the ISC for the latter to take the necessary disciplinary measures against errant insurers.
The ISC insists on compliance with the MoU to enable insurers to improve the technical results of the automobile branch and ensure a quick return to stability in this branch. M