Prior information concerning distance selling

1 Insurance business carried on using remote means of communication (distance selling)

Chapter 6a of the Consumer Protection Act (38/1978) lays down provisions on traders’ obligation to provide consumers with prior information when concluding a contract of insurance using remote means of communication (distance selling).

Distance selling means a procedure whereby a contract of insurance is concluded between a trader and a consumer in a sales or service channel provided for the purposes of distance selling, without the parties being simultaneously physically present. When concluding the contract, means of distance communication are the sole means of communication used until the contract has been concluded.

Means of distance communication refers, for example, to the telephone, the post, the television, an information network or another means that can be used to conclude a contract without the simultaneous physical presence of the parties.

2 Insurers

For non-life insurance, the insurers are the mutual regional non-life insurance companies of LocalTapiola Group, and LocalTapiola General Mutual Insurance Company.

For life insurance, the insurer is LocalTapiola Mutual Life Insurance Company.

For your own insurer, see your policy document or the offer that we have sent you.

The mutual regional non-life insurance companies of LocalTapiola Group:

LocalTapiola Etelä Mutual Insurance Company (0139557-7) Turuntie 8, FI-24100 Salo
LocalTapiola Etelä-Pohjanmaa Mutual Insurance Company (0178281-7) Kauppakatu 5, FI-60100 Seinäjoki
LocalTapiola Itä Mutual Insurance Company (2246442-0) Riistakatu 11, FI-74100 Iisalmi
LocalTapiola Kaakkois-Suomi Mutual Insurance Company (0225907-5) Oksasenkatu 1, FI-53100 Lappeenranta
LocalTapiola Kainuu-Koillismaa Mutual Insurance Company (0210339-6) Kauppakatu 16, FI-87100 Kajaani
LocalTapiola Keski-Suomi Mutual Insurance Company (0208463-1) Asemakatu 4, FI-40100 Jyväskylä
LocalTapiola Lappi Mutual Insurance Company (0277001-7) Rovakatu 27, FI-96200 Rovaniemi
LocalTapiola Loimi-Häme Mutual Insurance Company (0134859-4) Aleksis Kiven katu 7, FI-32200 Loimaa
LocalTapiola Länsi-Suomi Mutual Insurance Company (0134099-8) Gallen-Kallelankatu 9 A, FI-28100 Pori
LocalTapiola Pirkanmaa Mutual Insurance Company (0205843-3) Itsenäisyydenkatu 11, FI-33500 Tampere
LocalTapiola Pohjanmaa Mutual Insurance Company (0180953-0) Kauppapuistikko 19-21, FI-65100 Vaasa
LocalTapiola Pohjoinen Mutual Insurance Company (2235550-7) Kirkkokatu 9, FI-90100 Oulu
LocalTapiola Pääkaupunkiseutu Mutual Insurance Company (2647339-1) Fredrikinkatu 48 A, FI-00100 Helsinki
LocalTapiola Savo Mutual Insurance Company (1759597-9) Puutarhakatu 6, FI-70300 Kuopio
LocalTapiola Savo-Karjala Mutual Insurance Company (0218612-8) Olavinkatu 53, FI-57100 Savonlinna
LocalTapiola Etelärannikko Mutual Insurance Company (0135987-5) Strandvägen 2A, FI-21600 Pargas
LocalTapiola Uusimaa Mutual Insurance Company (0224469-0) Piispankatu 30, FI-06100 Porvoo
LocalTapiola Varsinais-Suomi Mutual Insurance Company (0204067-1) Yliopistonkatu 14 a, FI-20100 Turku
LocalTapiola Vellamo Mutual Insurance Company (0282283-3) Saimaankatu 20, FI-15140 Lahti

See here for the telephone numbers and more specific contact details of our regional insurance companies (in Finnish).

LocalTapiola General Mutual Insurance Company

Business ID: 0211034-2
Revontulenkuja 1
FI-02010 LähiTapiola
Telephone +358 9 4531

LocalTapiola Mutual Life Insurance Company

Business ID: 0201319-8
Revontulenkuja 1
FI-02010 LÄHITAPIOLA
Telephone +358 9 4531

3 Public registers

The mutual non-life insurance companies part of LocalTapiola Group are registered in the following registers of the Business Information System (BIS) maintained jointly by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the Finnish Tax Administration:

Trade Register
Tax Administration
Prepayment Register
Value added tax liability
Employer Register
Register of entities liable to pay tax on insurance premiums

LocalTapiola Mutual Life Insurance Company is registered in the following registers of the Business Information System (BIS) maintained jointly by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the Finnish Tax Administration:

Trade register
Tax Administration
Prepayment register
Value added tax liability
Employer register

4 Supervisory authority

The activities of insurers are supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority

Financial Supervisory Authority
Snellmaninkatu 6
PO Box 103, FI-00101 Helsinki
Telephone +358 9 183 51
Email kirjaamo(a)finanssivalvonta.fi

5 Main characteristics of products

The key content of each insurance, their scope of insurance cover and material limitations and exclusions and the product-specific prior information to be provided in distance selling can be found in the relevant insurance product description, key information and policy wordings, available on the website and in the online store.

The criteria for determining the insurance premium, and price calculators and payment details, are provided separately for each insurance product.

6 Right of withdrawal and cancellation

The provisions on the right of withdrawal laid down in the Consumer Protection Act are not applicable to contracts of insurance. The Insurance Contracts Act contains provisions on policyholders’ right to withdraw from or cancel an insurance policy.

The policyholder may cancel their insurance policy in writing at any point during the period of insurance or the premium period. If no policy termination date is given when cancelling a policy, the policy will terminate once the notice of cancellation has been given or sent to the insurer. The applicable insurance premium will be charged from the beginning until the termination of the policy. A policy cannot be cancelled if it has been agreed to be in effect for fewer than 30 days.

In savings life insurance and pension insurance policies, the policyholder has the right to cancel the contract of insurance within 30 days of the date on which the policy document or the contract document is sent.

The cancellation of a unit-linked insurance plan requires a written notice to the insurer within 30 days, as well as that a payment address be notified. The invested contributions will be returned without profit no later than within 30 days of the receipt of the notice of cancellation.

7 Information about legal remedies

If you are not satisfied with an insurance decision, or if anything is unclear with your contract, please primarily contact your insurer. For more information about the reasons behind a decision or about your contract of insurance, call our customer service. For the contact details, see the decision or consult www.lahitapiola.fi. We will rectify the decision if it proves to be incorrect.

Instructions on how to submit an appeal are provided in insurance and claim settlement decisions. The appeal process varies depending on the type of insurance.

A claimant who is dissatisfied with their decision may, within three years of being informed of the decision, bring an action at the district court of the insurer’s domicile, at the district court of the claimant’s own domicile or permanent residence or at the district court of the place where the claim arose.

Out-of-court redress procedures include:

FINE – The Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau (www.fine.fi)
Consumer Disputes Board (www.kuluttajariita.fi)
LocalTapiola Customer Conciliation Office

For more information about legal remedies, please see our website and the insurance product-specific product descriptions and policy wordings.

8 Other information

Contracts of insurance are subject to Finnish law.

The distance-selling languages of service are Finnish and Swedish.