European Communities (Reorganisation and Winding Up of Insurance Undertakings) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 594/2011)
Effective from 18 November 2011, the Regulations give further effect to the provisions of Directive 2001/17/EC (the "Insurance Winding-Up Directive") on the reorganisation and winding up of insurance undertakings. The Regulations amend existing provisions to ensure that in circumstances where a life insurance company has been authorised to conduct non-life classes 1 and 2 business (see related article above), any insurance claim in relation to the life business of such an undertaking shall, with respect to the assets representing the life technical reserves, take absolute precedence over any claim in relation to non-life classes 1 and 2 business. Equally, any insurance claim taken in respect of any non-life classes 1 and 2, with respect to the assets representing the non-life technical reserves, shall have absolute precedence over any claims in relation to the life business of the undertaking.
The Regulations do however provide that expenses arising out of the winding-up proceedings shall take overall precedence over insurance claims, to the extent that the assets of the undertaking, other than the assets representing the technical reserves, are insufficient to meet such expenses. In circumstances where a life insurance undertaking writes non-life classes 1 and 2 business, such expenses shall be divided proportionally between the assets representing the life technical reserves and non-life technical reserves. A life insurance undertaking authorised to write non-life classes 1 and 2 business must keep separate registers for the assets representing the life obligations and the non-life obligations.
For further details, please see - S.I. No. 594/2011 — European Communities (Reorganisation and Winding-up of Insurance Undertakings) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.
The European Union (Motor Insurance) (Limitation of Insurance in relation to Injury to Property) Regulations 2011
Effective from 21 December 2011, these Regulations are designed to give legal effect to the provisions of Directive 2009/103/EC of 16 September 2009 relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles and the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability. The Regulations also provide for a €1,120,000 limit per claim for property damage regardless of the number of victims.
For further details, please see - http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/esi/2011/B28953.pdf
The Health Insurance Act, 1994 (Information Returns) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/690)
Effective from 21 December 2011, the Regulations set out the amended format and contents of the information returns specified in Section 7D of the Health Insurance Acts, 1970-1989 (the "Acts"). The amendments will provide for more detailed returns broken down by type of health insurance cover and by year of age of the policyholder. The data being returned since 2009 have been based on the maximum limits of net provider payments as set out in Schedule 1 of the Health Insurance Act, 1994 (Information Returns) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 294/2009 — Health Insurance Act 1994 (Information Returns) Regulations 2009). In future, the information returns will also include data on all costs incurred during an in-patient stay.
The purpose of the information returns is to enable the Health Insurance Authority to report to the Minister as set out in Section 7E of the Acts and in particular to recommend any changes in the levies and tax credits having considered the need to support the principal objective as specified in the Acts.
For further details, please see - http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/esi/2011/B28789.pdf
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