Distribution of an insurance product by a non-insurance company to its own customer base, relying on the brand relationship rather than on an intermediary network.
Affinity insurance reverses the acquisition logic: rather than seeking customers, the insurer rents access to a base that already exists, that of a retailer, a telecom operator, an airline, a manufacturer or a professional association. The partner brings the relationship and often its brand, the insurer carries the risk and the compliance. The model offers very low acquisition cost and a high acceptance rate, because the offer comes at the moment the need is obvious. It also carries three weaknesses that explain regulatory intervention. Value for the customer is sometimes thin, certain add-on covers showing very low ratios of claims to premium. The responsibility chain lengthens, the final seller being neither insurer nor professional intermediary, which the distribution directive frames through the ancillary distributor regime. And portfolio concentration on a single partner creates a major commercial risk: the end of one distribution agreement extinguishes an entire production flow at once.
The Insurance Distribution Directive, applicable since October 1, 2018, created the ancillary distributor regime precisely for these channels, and European authorities targeted add-on covers sold with goods from 2021 onward, some showing ratios of claims paid to premiums collected below ten percent. Product governance, rather than customer disclosure, is the lever chosen.
affinity insurance, partenariat de distribution, marque blanche, assurance de marque