Insurance (Amendment) Act 2011

Amendment of section 1 (definitions) of Principal Act.

2.— Section 1 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for the definition of “authorisation”:

“ ‘authorisation’ means an authorisation under one or more of the authorising regulations;”,

(b) by inserting the following definitions after the definition of “the Act of 1936”:

“ ‘authorising regulations’ means—

(a) the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) Regulations 1976 ( S.I. No. 115 of 1976 ),

(b) the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1991 ( S.I. No. 142 of 1991 ), and

(c) the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) Framework Regulations 1994 ( S.I. No. 359 of 1994 );

‘excluded risk’, in relation to risk under an insurance policy, means—

(a) a risk relating to insurance of passengers in marine and aviation vehicles, carriers liability or export credit that falls within the following classes of the Annex to First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 1 , namely, classes 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12, within classes 1 and 10 in so far as they relate to the insurance of passengers in marine and aviation vehicles and carriers liability insurance, respectively, and within class 14 in so far as it relates to export credit,

(b) a risk insured against, where the policy concerned relates to insurance business in one or more of classes I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX of Annex I to Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 2 ,

(c) a risk insured against, where the policy concerned is a health insurance contract the effecting of which constitutes health insurance business within the meaning of section 2 (1) of the Health Insurance Act 1994 ,

(d) a risk relating to dental services, where the sole purpose of the policy concerned is to provide for the making of payments for the reimbursement or discharge in whole or in part of fees or charges in respect of the provision of dental services, other than those involving surgical procedures carried out in a hospital by way of hospital in-patient services within the meaning of section 2 (1) of the Health Insurance Act 1994 ,

(e) a risk insured against in a contract of reinsurance, within the meaning of the European Communities (Reinsurance) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 380 of 2006 ), or

(f) a risk insured against where, at the time the policy concerned was issued, as the case may be—

(i) the authorisation of the insurer that issued the policy had been suspended or revoked, or

(ii) the authorisation granted, by the authority in another Member State charged by the law of that Member State with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in that Member State, to the insurer authorised in another Member State that issued the policy had been suspended or revoked;”,

(c) by substituting the following for the definition of “insurer”:

“ ‘insurer’ means an insurance undertaking that is authorised to carry on the business of a non-life insurer and includes an undertaking whose authorisation has been revoked by the Bank, but does not include—

(a) an insurer authorised in another Member State, or

(b) a captive insurance undertaking within the meaning of Article 13 of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 3 ;”,

(d) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “insurer”:

“ ‘insurer authorised in another Member State’ means an insurance undertaking that has been granted an authorisation, under the law of another Member State, by the authority in that Member State charged by the law of that Member State with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in that Member State, and is consequently authorised to carry on the business of insurance in the State in accordance with one or more of the authorising regulations;”,

(e) by substituting the following for the definition of ‘policy’:

“ ‘policy’ means any document or other writing by which a contract of insurance is made or agreed to be made or which is evidence of any such contract;”,

(f) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “policy”:

“ ‘risk in the State’, in relation to risk under an insurance policy, means a risk that is not an excluded risk and that is—

(a) a risk relating to a building in the State or, if a building and its contents are covered by the same insurance policy, to the building in the State and those contents,

(b) a risk relating to a vehicle of any type that is registered in the State,

(c) a risk relating to travel or holidays where the policy holder took out the policy in the State and the duration of the policy is 4 months or less, or

(d) in any other case, unless the risk is a risk relating to a building or its contents that is situated in another Member State, a vehicle that is registered in another Member State or a risk relating to travel or holidays where the policy is for a duration of 4 months or less and the policy holder took out the policy in another Member State and that the risk would therefore be a risk that is situated in another Member State, a risk where—

(i) if the policy holder is an individual, the habitual residence of the policy holder is in the State, or

(ii) if the policy holder is not an individual, the establishment of the policy holder to which the policy relates is in the State.”.

1 OJ No. L 228, 16.8.1973, p. 3

2 OJ No. L 345, 19.12.2002, p.1.

3 OJ No. L335 17.12.2009, p. 1