On 28 December 2009, the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2999) (the Regulations) came into force. The Regulations govern, amongst other things, the information that service providers must give to clients and customers in the EU (for example, information on any registration or authorisation that the service provider holds) so as to ensure that they are able to make an informed decision when considering whether to use the service provider. Whilst the Regulations do not apply directly to the financial services sector they are still of interest to insurers.

In particular, it should be noted that other professional service providers (such as law and accountancy firms) must now provide their clients with the details of any professional liability insurance that the service provider is required to hold. This must include the contact details for the insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy.

Whilst the Regulations do not alter the legal relationship between the service provider’s clients and its insurers and do not impose any obligations on the insurers, insurers may need to consider changes to policy wordings to allow disclosure of this information by service providers.