Accreditation Committee

The Accreditation Committee is a standing body of the Association of Insurance Consumers. It makes sure that the assessment of market participants published by the Association is objective, transparent and based on the consumer's interests. Accreditation shows that a company or specialist has been checked against uniform criteria and is ready to work by rules that are clear to the client.

Tasks of the committee

• Monitoring the market from the client's perspective: claims handling, clarity of contracts, service quality, complaint handling.
• Summarising published consumer reviews by comparable criteria.
• Reviewing accreditation applications from insurers, brokers, agents, specialists and service organisations.
• Decisions to grant, suspend or terminate accreditation.
• Maintaining the register of accredited participants on the Association's website.

Goals of the committee

The committee wants consumers to have a clear and honest reference point when choosing an insurer or intermediary, and market participants to be interested in fair practice. The criteria are the same for everyone, regardless of membership in the Association.

Regulation on the committee

The committee works under its Regulation. Key provisions:

• accreditation follows published criteria and does not depend on membership or fees;
• decisions are taken collectively at committee meetings by a simple majority;
• a member connected with the applicant does not vote;
• the committee cannot change or remove a consumer review for the sake of an accreditation decision.

The full text of the Regulation is attached below as a PDF.

Structure of the committee

• Chair — organises the work and chairs meetings.
• Members — experts in insurance, law and consumer protection.
• Secretary — prepares application materials and keeps the register of decisions.

Reporting

The committee reports to the Association's Board on its decisions and proposes changes to the accreditation criteria.

Role of the committee

For consumers, the “Accredited by APSU” mark in the register is an additional reference point when choosing. For companies and specialists, it is a way to show that they work transparently and listen to their clients. The list of accredited participants is on the “Accreditation” page.