It’s been one year since the introduction of the Europe-wide Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), and new research has found that most brokers believe that it’s been good for the industry.
According to research by Ecclesiastical Insurance, almost two-thirds of brokers (63%) believe the IDD has been good for the insurance industry – with the figure rising to 72% of national brokers. Over half of brokers (56%) also think that the IDD has helped to raise professional standards, with this figure increasing to 70% among larger regional brokers. By contrast, only 26% of brokers believe that IDD has successfully increased trust in the insurance industry.
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IDD is EU legislation which sets regulatory requirements for firms designing and selling insurance products. It was introduced to improve the level of consumer protection in the market and is focused on customers being better informed and firms providing products which meet their needs.
Research by Ecclesiastical ahead of the introduction of IDD last year found that many brokers felt unprepared for the changes and were concerned about the growing burden of legislation. A year on, however, and most brokers have said that IDD has not had the impact on their business that they feared.
“A year on from the introduction of the IDD and its good to see that many brokers are feeling positive about the changes,” said Adrian Saunders, commercial director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, “I’m particularly pleased that brokers feel that customers are better informed and are getting fairer outcomes as a result of the legislation.”
