TY - JOUR

T1 - Miscounselling in the German Insurance Market-Utility-Orientated Implications for the Meaning of Miscounselling

AU - Pape, Annika

PY - 2014/12/1

Y1 - 2014/12/1

N2 - Miscounselling results from the fact that consumers have difficulty matching their needs and preferences with the characteristics of the products and have to rely upon an intermediary. The ideal contract can be found by applying the theory of the consumer by Lancaster and, thus, using different amounts of the contract characteristics. Using a spatial representation of the contractual alternatives yields a model framework. The main question is how to differentiate between advice that improves the consumers’ situation and those that are wrong in order to define an accuracy level for the liability rule imposed by the Insurance Contract Act. After identifying the relevant variables via case studies, it is possible to state a general definition of miscounselling: miscounselling can be defined as the provision of any additional information that does not help to reduce the utility loss referring to an initial situation. Considering this definition, one can think about rewording the current liability rule.

AB - Miscounselling results from the fact that consumers have difficulty matching their needs and preferences with the characteristics of the products and have to rely upon an intermediary. The ideal contract can be found by applying the theory of the consumer by Lancaster and, thus, using different amounts of the contract characteristics. Using a spatial representation of the contractual alternatives yields a model framework. The main question is how to differentiate between advice that improves the consumers’ situation and those that are wrong in order to define an accuracy level for the liability rule imposed by the Insurance Contract Act. After identifying the relevant variables via case studies, it is possible to state a general definition of miscounselling: miscounselling can be defined as the provision of any additional information that does not help to reduce the utility loss referring to an initial situation. Considering this definition, one can think about rewording the current liability rule.

KW - Economics

KW - Consumer protection

KW - Insurance

KW - Insurance intermediation

KW - Miscounselling

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84939890390&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10603-014-9268-y

DO - 10.1007/s10603-014-9268-y

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 37

SP - 561

EP - 582

JO - Journal of Consumer Policy

JF - Journal of Consumer Policy

SN - 0168-7034

IS - 4

ER -