The exchange of experiences and good practices for the purpose of increased protection of the insured and continuous raising of the level of their financial education are the key topics discussed with the representatives of the insurance regulatory bodies from the SEE countries, the insurance industry and other included parties on the today’s session organized by the Macedonian Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with the support of the Ministry of Finance of The Kingdom of the Netherlands within the project for financial education.

Today’s online conference titled “Experiences and practices” organized in five sessions was attended by more than fifty participants from the country and SEE countries where experiences, results from the policy analyses, measures and tools used by the insurance regulators for protection of the insured were presented.

The effects from the activities for raising the level of financial education and inclusion of the population in the financial flows of the SEE countries were also discussed. At the event there was also a session about the effects imposed by the pandemic and the measures taken by the regulatory bodies for protection of the insured.

The protection of the rights of the consumers, together with the financial education and access to financial services is a basis for bigger financial inclusion. The protection of the consumers includes: securing accurate and timely information to the consumers for making decisions on the basis of information, non-existing, unfair and fraudulent practices in the contracts, as well as access to mechanisms for resolving violations of consumer rights.

The financial education and protection of consumers i.e. insured are activities prioritized by ISA and continuously taken within its competences for development of the insurance market and raising the awareness of the public about the insurance role. Furthermore, ISA pays special attention to encourage cooperation between the relevant institutions and cooperation with other instances by implementing educational programmes and activities for support and improvement of the financial literacy of the population. At international level, ISA actively participates in bilateral and multilateral projects for financial literacy and inclusion.

ISA in cooperation with other financial regulators: It is a strategic national document which identifies the goals of the regulatory bodies and recognizes the priorities for awarding and determining dynamics, measures and activities for raising the financial literacy of the population, their inclusion and protection of their rights deriving from using the spectrum of financial services, including insurance as well.