Financial services groups Achmea and Fortis do not want to conform per se to the new standards on investment-based policies drawn up by the sector’s ombudsman, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

Nationale Nederlanden, Delta Lloyd and Aegon have agreed to the ombudsman’s ruling that charges be no higher than 2.5% or 3.5% of the total premium. The new standard follows major disquiet about the cost of some policies, where in some cases charges account for up to 40% of the premiums.
Achmea, whose subsidiaries include AveroAchmea, Interpolis and Central Beheer, told the paper it can accept the new norms but that it wants to see a ‘sector-wide’ deal which consumer associations and the financial sector can all agree to.
Fortis told the paper it wanted to keep the right to charge higher fees.