DKV BELGIUM SA V ASSOCIATION BELGE DES CONSOMMATEURS TEST-ACHATS ASBL

[2013] EUECJ Case C-577/11, Court of Justice of the European Union, 7 March 2013

Insurance (health) - Direct insurance other than life assurance - Restrictions in national law of rate of annual increases in premium and excess - Freedom to set rates - Health insurance contracts not linked to professional activity - Restrictions - Overriding reasons in the public interest - Council Directive 92/49/EEC of 18 June 1992 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance, and amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC (Third Non-Life Insurance Directive) and article 8(3) of First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance, as amended by Directive 92/49/EEC - TFEU article 49 and 56

This was a request for a preliminary ruling from the Brussels Court of Appeal made in proceedings between the claimant insurer and the defendant consumer rights advocate. The Belgian proceedings concerned increases in premium rates payable for supplementary hospitalisation insurance for "individual room" coverage. Belgian law limited the permissible annual premium increases in line with the consumer price index and DKV had informed its policyholders of increases in excess of that limit. Test-Achats sought an injunction restricting DKV from such increases based on Belgian law. The CA in Brussels referred a question to ECJ on the permissibility of the restrictions under EU Directives on freedom of establishment and under TFEU provisions on freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services. The court held that the EU rules in question did not preclude national law limiting increases in the premium and excess in accordance with an index.