EIOPA Expectations On POG Process (product Oversight And Governance) Due To COVID-19

On the 8 July 2020 EIOPA (the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) issued a statement to outline its expectations in relation to how manufacturers of insurance products apply their POG (product oversight and governance) process in the light of the impact that COVID-19 may have on such insurance products.

EIOPA expects insurance manufacturers to identify any of their products which include features that may have been materially affected by COVID-19 and to assess whether there might be the risk of possible unfair treatment to consumers. A reduction in the risk being covered may result in reduced utility for the consumer and therefore possible unfair treatment. EIOPA warns manufacturers to avoid the risk of reacting too soon to temporary changes that are not durable in impact or of sufficient scale and therefore asks manufacturers to perform the assessment on a medium to longer term basis. Where such unfair treatment is identified,