The first meeting of the emergency subcommittee for examining the civic draft bill on the change of the Personal Income Tax Act (form No. 2000) took place on the 22nd October 2009 and was wholly devoted to organizational matters. The representatives of the Polish Insurance Association also participated in the meeting, apart from the members of parliament and the representatives of the initiator – the Committee of the Civic Legislative Initiative TOGETHER.

The draft bill which is supported by the Association assumes the implementation of a tax relief for persons who voluntarily save for their future pensions. According to the Association, the only effective form of reactivation of the inefficient programme of the Idividual Pension Account (Polish Indywidualne Konto Emerytalne, thus the abbreviation IKE) and Workers’ Pension Programmes (Polish Pracownicze Programy Emerytalne, thus the abbreviation PPE) is the implementation of annual limitation of payments to the level where the resources will be exempted from the income tax or the specification of a maximal limitation of deduction from the amount of the income tax from natural persons. This demand was already submitted in January 2008 during the conference, organized by PIU, entitled “Rola rynku ubezpieczeniowego w realizacji reformy systemu emerytalnego (The role of the insurance market in the completion of the reform of the pension system). It was also submitted repeatedly in the correspondence with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

During the meeting, the chairman informed those present that the members of the subcommittee must become acquainted with the sent documentation before the start of discussion. It primarily concerned the amendment proposed by the initiator which consisted in the implementation to the draft bill of many regulations previously included in the draft of the directive attached to the draft bill.
Additionally, the Bureau of Research was asked to send the opinions on whether the draft bill is constitutional and on the predicted consequences for the budget of the country and self-governments. Professor Marek Góra, the co-creator of the pension reform, was also asked for his opinion.

On 21st October 2009, a meeting of the Committee for Justice and Human Rights of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland took place; it was devoted to examining the report of the emergency subcommittee on the governmental draft bill on making claims in group proceedings (form No. 1829). Apart from the members of parliament and representatives of the initiator, also the representatives of the Polish Insurance Association participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, amendments to the entries of the draft bill were proposed. Changes which were to facilitate the future unambiguous interpretation of the regulations and two vital amendments to the draft bill were introduced by way of voting. In Article 5 of the draft bill, the remuneration of a plenipotentiary was limited to 20% of the amount awarded to the petitioner. In Article 26 of the draft bill, the time when the act will take effect after it has been published in the journal of laws was prolonged from 3 to 6 months.

The implementation of changes, in both cases, was previously called for by the Polish Insurance Association, in the opinion sent to the chairman of the emergency subcommittee and during the meeting. Especially the limitation to 20% of the remuneration of a plenipotentiary, specified in relation to the awarded amount, might be the reason for future, possible compensation to be paid in a greater part to the aggrieved party, not to law offices. The experiences of the Americans prove that good intentions, that is the improvement of the protection of consumers have, in practice, led on many markets to the development of the sector of law offices which benefited from representing parties to disputes.

A vast majority of the awarded compensation was spent on the remuneration of law offices in the United States.

The Committe for Justice and Human Rights of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland passed the report of the subcommittee with the implemented amendments. The Polish Insurance Association will still be monitoring the future course of action of the legislative process in the Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland. In opinion of the Association, the adopted, by the Committee, draft bill on making claims in group proceedings does not take into account all the negative economic and social consequences which might be caused by it.

The first reading of a draft bill on the change of the Act on the road transport and on the change of other Acts (form No. 2401) took place at the meeting of the Infrastructure Committee of 20th October 2009.

The draft bill amends, among other things, the Act of 23rd May 2003 on the compulsory insurance, Insurance Guarantee Fund and Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau within the scope of the compulsory third-party insurance. The change in the draft bill is supposed to consist in the termination of a third-party insurance agreement if a vehicle has temporarily been removed from the participation in the traffic and in the implementation of a new definition of a motor vehicle which excludes trailers. The result of the foregoing change will be the exemption of proprietors of trailers from the obligation to conclude a third-party insurance agreement.

The Polish Insurance Association presented its negative stance towards the aforementioned changes in a letter to the Deputy Head of the Seym Office which is attached hereto. The Infrastructure Committee appointed a 5-person, emergency Subcommittee to examine this draft bill. The first meeting of the Subcommittee is scheduled to take place on 23rd October 2009.

The Polish Insurance Association and Health Consumer Powerhouse prepared a report titled: “Europejski Konsumencki Indeks Zdrowia 2009” (Euro Health Consumer Index 2009). It is the fifth edition of the customer healthcare systems ranking, but it is the first time it is published in Polish. The list presents 33 national healthcare systems, and focuses on functioning of those systems from the point of view of a customer.
The rating of the Dutch healthcare system in the report is high; it proves that the reform undertaken in this country brings good results.

It is worth mentioning it was the Dutch model the Polish healthcare system proposal was based and presented by the Polish Insurance Association. According to the ranking, Poland currently has one of the worst healthcare systems in terms of functioning. Despite the period of rapid economic growth, and despite the investments made in the system, the situation did not ameliorate.

The author of Euro Health Consumer Index report is Health Consumer Powerhouse. The opinions expressed in the report are those of the author.

Here we present the complete Polish version of the report: Euro Health Consumer Index 2009.

The Polish Insurance Association prepared a brochure targeted at insurance companies, titled „Audit programmes for chosen processes/sectors in insurance companies, part 1”.

The study was prepared by the Audit & Internal Supervision Subcommittee, a part of the Commission of Economy and Finances of the Polish Insurance Association and succeeds the publication titled “Classification of risk in the activity of insurance companies”.

The publication presents audit programmes for the processes of calculation and payment of the agency commission, eliminating the consequences of the events subject to the insurance, passive reassurance and business continuity management (BCM); the work finalises the first stage of research by the Subcommittee.

In the coming years, the Polish Insurance Association will publish other studies in accordance with the conducted works.

The publication provides substantial support for the internal audit departments of insurance companies; its content was highly rated by the KPMG company during their audit of the presented programmes. The official opinion given by KPMG is an integral part of the publication.

Full version of the brochure titled: „Audit programmes for chosen processes/sectors in insurance companies, part 1”

Recommendation of the brochure by the KPMG company

The report is a result of the work and analysis conducted by the Motor Insurance Commission of the Polish Insurance Association.

The report describes the activity of the Polish motor insurance companies which are supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority; the report applies only the direct forms of activity. The collected data was acquired from the publications of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Central Statistical Office. The report also reflects the data about the automotive market provided by the Automotive Market Research Institute as well as the information about road accidents presented in a report by the National Road Safety Board. The study is relevant only to mandatory insurance in form of the third party liability insurance (OC) and the own damage insurance (AC).

The report on motor insurance starts a new cycle of publications prepared by the Polish Insurance Association. The cycle will describe individual segments of the insurance market, both property insurance and life insurance.

Complete version of the report: „Motor insurance from 2006 to 2008”

The excellent and exciting six-a-side indoor football tournament, the PIU Cup 2010, was won by the Uniqa team. In the final match, the winner team defeated Warta 7:3. In the 3rd place playoff, Axa Direct proved to be better than the Liberty Direct team, but only after the penalty shootout. Krzysztof Kuchciak of Uniqa team was declared the top scorer, while Guy Cauters (Warta team) was declared the best goalkeeper. 17 teams took part in the tournament.

<Please scroll down to see the photo gallery>

It was the second tournament for insurance companies. The first edition of the tournament took place last year, met with great interest and received good reviews. This year’s edition was welcomed even more enthusiastically and gathered more teams and supporters (families of the players as well as their colleagues).

The teams were divided into 4 groups. The division was: Group A: Generali, Compensa, Liberty Direct and ING; Group B: Amplico Life, TUW TUZ, Gras Savoye and Aviva; Group C : Axa, Uniqa, Rzecznik Ubezpieczonych and KUKE; Group D: Link 4, BRE Ubezpieczenia, PTU, Warta and Ergo Hestia.

During the cup stage, the results of each time proved to be very even, that is why it was hard to choose the best team in the whole tournament. Four matches, including the 3rd place playoff, had to be concluded by penalty shootouts.

Krzysztof Kuchciak, a player of the Uniqa team and the biggest star of the tournament, scored 8 goals and received the title of the top scorer. Guy Cartes from Warta was declared the best goalkeeper; thanks to his interventions, his team won the penalty shootout and made it to the semi-final match.

The sport competition was accompanied by a family picnic with barbecue.

We congratulate all the players and supporters for their competitive spirit and support and we invite everyone to the next year’s edition of the tournament.

Complete results of the tournament can be seen below:

Results of the group stage

Group A
1. Liberty Direct – 9 pts., total goals – 11 :4
2. Generali – 6 pts., 9:8
3. Compensa – 3 pts., 5:10
4. ING – 0 pts., 7:10

Group B
1. Aviva – 9 pts., 11:2
2. Amplico Life – 6 pts., 7:9
3. Gras Savoye – 3 pts., 3:7
4. TUW TUZ – 0 pts., 6:9

Group C
1. Uniqa – 9 pts., 12:2
2. Axa Direct – 6 pts., 14:5
3. Biuro Rzecznika Ubezpieczonych – 3 pts., 2:10
4. KUKE – 0 pts., 1:12

Group D
1. Warta – 9 pts., 11:5
2. Ergo Hestia – 9 pts., 19:5
3. Link 4 – 6 pts., 5:5
4. BRE Ubezpieczenia – 6 pts., 8:13
5. PTU – 0 pts., 5:20

Quarter-finals results:
Liberty Direct – Amplico Life 2:1
Uniqa – Ergo Hestia 2:2, penalty shootout 3:2
Aviva – Axa Direct 0:0, penalty shootout 5:6
Warta – Generali 2 :1

Semi-finals results
 Liberty Direct – Uniqa 1:2
 Axa Direct – Warta 1:1, penalty shootout 2:3

3rd place match
 Liberty Direct – Axa Direct 1:1, penalty shootout 8:9

Final match
Uniqa – Warta 7:3

PIU CUP 2010

The Polish Insurance Association for the second time organises a six-a-side indoor football tournament – PIU Cup. We invite groups formed by the employees of Polish insurance companies to take part in the tournament.

The first tournament took place last year and gathered 16 football teams. The Aviva team was declared the winner. Photos from the last year’s PIU Cup edition can be viewed HERE.

This year’s tournament will take place on 5th June this year in the sports arena at ul. Księcia Bolesława 1/3, Warszawa. The tournament will start at 10:00.

The playing teams will consist of 6 players; each team can consist of 11 players, including 5 substitute players. Team applications should be sent to Adam Orlikowski, e-mail address: adam@halapilkarska.pl until 26th May 2010.

Application card for the team can be downloaded HERE.

Precious prizes are waiting!

The sport competition will be accompanied by a family picnic with barbecue. Therefore, the organisers invite not only players, but also their families and supporters.

Download a poster promoting the tournament.

The Polish Insurance Association and the Warsaw Marathon Foundation invite you to take part in the Marathon Relay – a series of relay races on various distances, taking part on 8-9th May 2010 in Pola Mokotowskie Park in Warsaw.

On 8th May (Saturday), the relay races of four-person teams on a distance of 4 x 1400m. will take place. Every relay will be divided into professional categories, including the category created for the insurers.

The insurers’ run will begin at 11.00. To submit your team, you must register on the website http://www.maratonsztafet.pl in the “Sztafeta 4x1400m” section.

On Saturday, at 11.00, a race for six-person teams and a distance equal to this of the marathon (42.195) will take place; every participant will run a section of the distance. It will be the first race to have additional categories introduced, including the category created for the insurers. To submit your team, you must register on the website www.maratonsztafet.pl  in the ”Ekiden” section.

Additional information can be obtained by e-mail: info@maratonwarszawski.com and on the website: www.maratonsztafet.pl.

The Polish Insurance Association tightens the cooperation with the Warsaw Marathon Foundation. It is a response of the council to the rising interest in running amongst the employees of the insurance sector.

In the current fifth edition of the Carrefour Warsaw Half Marathon, a new category – “Insurers”- was created. Therefore, the employees of insurance companies can compete for the prizes prepared especially for them – the PIU Insurance Cup, both in the relay race and the individual race. In previous editions, the insurers did not have such an opportunity. This year, they can start in their own category both in the half marathon, and in the Warsaw marathon which will take place in autumn.

The competition will take place on 27th and 28th March 2010 (Saturday and Sunday) in Warsaw. The starting line and the finishing line will be placed near Zamkowy Square. During the first day, the relay races will take place, while the second day will be devoted to the individual race.

The three best teams in the relay race will be awarded with prizes of the PIU Running Cup 2009 sponsored by Generali. Moreover, the three best representatives of insurance companies taking part in the main race will also be awarded with prizes.

We encourage the insurers to create their own company teams or to join the collective „PIU Insurance Team”. It is aimed especially at insurers who will not be able to create a complete relay race team (5 runners).

The coordinator of the collective teams is Mr. Rafał Kałęcki of Generali (rafal.kalecki@generali.pl) who participated in the Warsaw marathon numerous times.

Just like during the previous editions of the event, the insurance companies can also take part in a charity action. The money raised during the action will be transferred to many programmes, including the “Young and Healthy” which organizes special meetings for young Polish people  to teach them about cancer preventing measures.

More organizational information and the application can be found on the website: http://www.polmaratonwarszawski.pl