There is less than six months for UK dealers and their warranty providers to become compliant with the new Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) - the impact of which will be as far-reaching as GDPR legisation coming into force three months later.

The IDD comes into effect on February 23, 2018. It is EU legislation affecting insurance distributors that aims to improve consumer protection and to further harmonise how insurance distribution is regulated across Europe.

Key points include professional training requirements for staff involved in insurance distribution, and enhanced product information and disclosure requirements to help customers make informed decisions about their insurance purchase and the firms that they deal with.

Rich Green (pictured), The Warranty Group UK and Europe chief executive, said: “The IDD is much about increasing standards across the insurance industry to ensure that customers are provided with clear and meaningful information about the insurance and the firm providing it.

“It creates the need for us to modify the infrastructure within which we operate with partners that provide our insurance such as those in the motor industry and with many of our other dealer customers.

“Over the last few months, we have been working hard on preparations and we now have a complete initiative in place that is designed to help take these partners through the required process as easily as possible."

Resources being prepared by The Warranty Group include the new insurance product information document and guidance for dealer clients on key areas of change such as remuneration statements and other disclosure requirements.

The IDD training and record keeping requirements also introduce a minimum of 15 hours continuing professional development for staff involved in insurance distribution.

To meet this, TWG is creating a suite of training modules, several of which will be designed to support dealer partners with the necessary skills and knowledge. Modules include product terms and conditions, applicable laws and regulations, claims and complaint handling, the insurance market, assessing customer needs, financial competence, and business ethics standards.

> READ MORE: information on the IDD from the FCA

> READ MORE: what you need to do (guidance from the FCA)