Professional liability insurance or errors and omissions insurance is also required by law for these consulting professions: guarantees are usually already regulated by the Insurance Contracts Act and the Austrian ABGB. Often, however, insurance contracts also contain a corresponding clause. If such clauses are expressly stipulated in the insurance contract, they are generally referred to as notification obligations. See 5.1 Distribution of insurance and reinsurance products. Insurance business may be carried on in Austria only by legal persons in the form of a public limited company, a registered European company or a mutual insurance company. Any other legal form is excluded – in particular, insurance activities may not be carried out by natural persons or limited partnerships. This provision shall not apply to insurers established in another EEA Member State who have imported their home Member State card into Austria, provided that the insurer has adopted one of the legal forms listed in Annex III to Directive 2009/138/EC of 25 November 2009 relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II). With regard to the legal framework for the activity of insurtechs, it should be noted that insurtechs must comply with the same legal standards that apply to “conventional” market participants. In fact, the scope of insurance law regulation can be seen as a major challenge for InsurTechs in Austria. Insurance contracts are generally interpreted in the same way as any other civil law contract, with a few exceptions in the Insurance Contracts Act. The interpretation is therefore determined by the will of the contracting parties. Of course, the particularities of insurance law involve a number of other circumstances that are relevant in the context of interpretation. For example, the insurance intermediary must assess the wishes and needs of the customer on the basis of the information provided by the customer.
Intermediaries must also develop a consultation protocol for the entire consultation process. Moreover, the will of the contracting parties can often be determined on the basis of the advertising media used in the consultation process. Household contents insurance, also known as household contents insurance, covers damage to household contents caused by fire, burglary, storms, tap water leaks and broken glass. This can include damage to furniture, equipment or other valuables. If you have a lot of valuables, it may be a good idea to purchase insurance to protect them from this damage. Professional liability insurance is intended to protect self-employed or self-employed persons who take an increased risk due to their professional activity against claims for damages. Professional liability insurance is recommended for some professional groups, and even required by law for others. An insurer`s payment is due according to the investigations necessary to determine the insured event and the extent of the insurer`s benefits. However, payment is due if, within two months of the insured`s request for payment from the insurer under the insurance contract, the insurer is unable to explain why these investigations were not carried out, since it has one month to make such a declaration. One of the issues that has shaped the Austrian insurance and reinsurance market over the past two years is the COVID-19 pandemic. The provisions of the ISA are supervised by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) and serve primarily to protect the insured. The operation of an insurance company requires authorization from the FMA.
In addition, the insurer is also required to disclose certain data. In this context, the IDD provides for most disclosure and information requirements across the EU. However, insurance companies are only subject to formal control, so that the supervisory authority cannot intervene in the actual business activity. According to the Labour Code, insurance and reinsurance intermediaries must obtain a special business licence issued by the competent administrative authority of the district. The Insurance Contract Act does not prescribe any special form for the conclusion of an insurance contract. Therefore, in general civil law, only a consensual declaration of intent of the contracting parties is required, which can be made not only in writing, but also, for example, conclusively or even orally. Only in a few cases does it require the written form (for example, termination of the contract). Errors and omissions insurance is a form of professional liability insurance for individuals and businesses whose professional supervision results in real financial loss (usually no bodily injury or property damage).
