The EU’s Insurance Distribution Directive (“IDD”) comes into force in the UK on 1 October 2018.  The IDD aims to ensure harmonisation of insurance regulation across the EU, and it applies to insurers, insurance intermediaries, price comparison websites / aggregators and ancillary insurance intermediaries (such as those offering insurance services via a Designated Professional Body).

These requirements will therefore affect any firm holding a DPB license (issued by the ICAEW / ACCA / ICAS), or any firm directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the provision of such services.  For firms holding a DPB license, the ICAEW has provided a useful overview of the changes which can be accessed here.

HAT will provide more guidance regarding this in due course.