Quo vadis Collective Insurance? Observations on ECJ Rulings Affecting Group Insurance

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of group insurance under European Union law. The topic is important since neither European law nor rarely any national law of the EU member states defines a group insurance contract. This, in turn, may mean that it is case law that will have a significant impact on the development of this model of insurance coverage. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyze recent ECJ rulings and the positions of doctrine or European bodies on the nature of group insurance and to draw conclusions on the prospects and path of its development in the future. The topic also seems relevant to the ongoing work on the revision of the Insurance Distribution Directive.

Keywords

• group
• collective insurance
• large risks
• group organizer
• policyholder