The Insurance Law Center at UConn Law
is pleased to invite you to a lunchtime lecture by
Margarida Lima Rego
Professor, Nova School of Law, Lisbon
on the topic of
“Digital Transformation in Insurance: The Contract-as-Product Approach to Overcoming Information Overload”
on
Tuesday, February 4th, 12:30pm ET
Hosmer Hall, Ground Floor Conference Room (next to Faculty Lounge)
Lunch will be provided. Remote option available upon registration.
Please Register by Friday 1/31
Abstract:
This paper discusses how digital transformation is pushing the traditional model of contract formation into obsolescence. It argues that, largely as a consequence of the digital transformation and the inherent information overload, formal adherence to that model has slowly but steadily numbed everyone into mechanically declaring that they have read, understood, and agreed to a growing number of boilerplate or standard terms. This raises questions about whether these agreements are still contractual in nature. The chapter focuses on the recent product oversight and governance requirements in EU Law. It is submitted that the adoption of a contract-as-product approach is better equipped to protect insurance customers than transparency requirements based on the proliferation of information duties, given that most will choose not to assimilate the information that is so abundantly provided to them, this being an increasingly rational choice in view of the growing information overload. The contract-as-product approach also opens the door to the questioning of the contractual nature of standard terms, entailing some measure of recognition that they are often closer to a supplier’s instruction manuals than to the product of a meeting of the contract parties’ minds.
Full paper available for download here.