First Previous (INSURANCE ACT, 1989) Next (PART II Supervision of Insurers)

3 1989

INSURANCE ACT, 1989

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Insurance Act, 1989.

(2) The Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1985, and this Act may be cited together as the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1989, and shall be construed together as one Act.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be appointed by order or orders of the Minister, either generally or with reference to a particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

authorisation” means an authorisation issued by the Minister under the Regulations of 1976 or the Regulations of 1984 to carry on a specified class or description of insurance business;

authorised agent” in relation to an undertaking means the person designated as authorised agent of the undertaking under the Regulations of 1976 or the Regulations of 1984;

business” means assurance or insurance business;

client” means a person who requests an insurance intermediary to arrange insurance on his behalf;

commission payment” has the meaning given to it by subsection (3);

the Companies Acts” means the Companies Act, 1963 , and any enactment which is to be construed together with it;

contravention” in relation to any provision of this Act includes failure to comply with any requirement imposed by or under that provision and “contravene” shall be construed accordingly;

Council Directive” means a Directive of the Council of the European Communities;

the Court” means the High Court;

insurance” includes assurance;

the Insurance Acts” means the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1989, and regulations relating to insurance business made under the European Communities Act, 1972;

insurance agent” means any person who holds an appointment in writing from an insurer enabling him to place insurance business with that insurer, but does not include an insurance broker or an employee of an insurer when the employee is acting for that insurer;

insurance broker” means a person who, acting with the freedom of choice described in section 44 (1) (b), brings together, with a view to the insurance of risks, persons seeking insurance and insurance undertakings, and carries out work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, but does not include an insurance agent or an employee of an insurer when the employee is acting for that insurer;

insurance intermediary” or “intermediary” means an insurance agent or an insurance broker;

insurer” means the holder of an authorisation under the Regulations of 1976 or the Regulations of 1984;

life assurance” means assurance of a class specified in Schedule 1 to the Regulations of 1984;

non-life insurance” means insurance of a class specified in Schedule 1 to the Regulations of 1976;

the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

prescribe” means prescribe by regulations made under this Act;

regulations” means regulations made under the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1989, and regulations relating to insurance business made under the European Communities Act, 1972;

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

the Regulations of 1984” means the European Communities (Life Assurance) Regulations, 1984 (S.I. No. 57 of 1984);

solvency certificate” means a certificate issued by the Minister to an undertaking attesting its compliance with the solvency requirements specified in the Regulations of 1976 or the Regulations of 1984 as appropriate;

supervisory authority” means, in respect of any territory, the authority charged by law with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in that territory;

undertaking” means the holder of an authorisation.

(2) References in the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1989, to “assurance company” or “insurance company” shall be construed as references to the holder of an authorisation, and references to “licence” shall be construed as references to “authorisation”.

(3) (a) A commission payment, for the purpose of this Act, is a payment, including a commission or other remuneration, reward or benefit in kind, paid or payable by or on behalf of the holder of an authorisation to an insurance intermediary in connection with the insurance business of the holder and includes the time allowed by the holder to the intermediary for the payment by the intermediary to the holder of premiums received by the intermediary for the holder for contracts of insurance entered into by the holder.

(b) The value of the time allowed by an intermediary for the payment of a commission is to be taken into account in the calculation of the value of the time so allowed by the holder.

(4) In this Act a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is to a Part or section of this Act or to a Schedule to this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(5) In this Act a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

Offences and penalties.

3. — (1) Every person who contravenes a provision of this Act shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.

(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body or any person who was purporting to act in such capacity, he, as well as the body, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(4) A person convicted of an offence for which a penalty is provided in a provision, mentioned in column (2) of the Second Schedule , of an Act specified in column (1) of that Schedule, shall, in lieu of being liable to the penalty provided in that provision, be liable to the penalty specified in column (3) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (2).

(5) If any person in any return, report, certificate or other document required for the purpose of any provision of this Act, or in any application to the Minister for an authorisation, wilfully makes a statement false in any material particular, knowing it to be false, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(6) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to section 109 of the Insurance Act, 1936 (which as adapted by section 2 (2) of this Act relates to offences by the holder of an authorisation) and references to “this Act” in subsections (1) and (4) of the said section 109 shall be construed as references to the Insurance Acts.

Service of documents.

4. —Any notice, requisition, direction or other document which is required or authorised to be served on a person by this Act may be served—

(a) in the case of a company incorporated or society registered in the State, by leaving it at, or sending it by pre-paid ordinary post to, the registered office of the company or society,

(b) in the case of a company incorporated outside the State but having a place of business in the State, by leaving it with, or sending it by pre-paid ordinary post to, the person notified to the Minister under the Insurance Acts as the authorised agent in the State of the company or, if no such person has been notified to the Minister, by the method specified in section 356 of the Companies Act, 1963 ,

(c) in the case of a foreign registered society with a place of business in the State, by leaving it with, or sending it by pre-paid ordinary post to, the person notified to the Minister under the Insurance Acts as the authorised agent in the State of the society or, if no such person has been notified to the Minister, by leaving it at or sending it in the manner aforesaid to the place of business of the society in the State,

(d) in the case of Lloyd's, by leaving it with, or sending it by pre-paid ordinary post to, the person notified to the Minister under the Insurance Acts as the authorised agent of Lloyd's in the State,

(e) in the case of any other person, by leaving it at, or sending it by pre-paid ordinary post to, that person's last known address.

Power to make regulations.

5. —(1) The Minister may make regulations for enabling this Act to have full effect.

(2) Regulations under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be expedient for any purpose of this Act.

Orders.

6. —The Minister may by order revoke or amend any order made by him under any provision of this Act other than an order made under section 1 (3).

Fees.

7. —(1) The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may by order provide for fees—

(a) to be paid to him annually by the holders of authorisations,

(b) to be paid to him in respect of the issue of a solvency certificate.

(2) The fee for inspection of the register kept under section 21 of the Insurance Act, 1936 shall be such fee not exceeding ten pounds as the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and subsection (5) of that section is hereby amended accordingly.

(3) The fees to be paid under this Act shall be collected in money and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct, and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of that Minister.

(4) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879 shall not apply in respect of fees under this Act.

Laying of orders and regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.

8. —Every order or regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order or regulation is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Repeals.

9. —Each enactment mentioned in column (2) of the First Schedule is repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that enactment in column (2).

Expenses.

10. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.