Oncological right to be forgotten and precontractual documentation

On 15 January 2026, the Italian Insurance Regulatory Authority (IVASS) issued Order no. 169/2026 concerning the oncological right to be forgotten and amending and supplementing IVASS Regulations no. 40/2018 and no. 41/2018 (the Order).

Law no. 193/2023 introduces a ban on insurance companies and intermediaries requesting information on the health status of clients who have previously suffered from oncological pathologies. The ban applies when clients take out or renew insurance contracts, when a certain amount of time – which varies according to the pathology and the client's age – has passed without the illness returning.

The Law indicates that the oncological right to be forgotten needs to be expressly mentioned in the documentation to conclude or renew insurance contracts.

IVASS has also introduced new provisions in IVASS Regulations no. 40/2018 (Regulation 40) and no. 41/2018 (Regulation 41), modifying the insurance precontractual information documentation.

 

Amendments and additions to Regulation 40

The Order adds some new definitions in Regulation 40 on the oncological right to be forgotten and introduces the new articles 56-bis and 56-ter.

Art. 56-bis indicates that distributors, when concluding or renewing an insurance contract, have to provide the policyholder with the information on the oncological right to be forgotten. This information must be included in the single pre-contractual form, s.c. MUP.

The MUPs are amended with indications on the oncological right to be forgotten.

Art. 56-bis also provides that distributors cannot ask the client or obtain in any information about previous oncological conditions. If distributors have such information, it cannot be used either in the precontractual phase to determine the terms and conditions to be applied to the client (eg limitations, exclusions, premium amount) nor during the execution of the contract itself for assessing the risk of the transaction or of the solvency (eg to establish the amount of the insurance benefit).

 

Article 56-ter states how the policyholder or the insured exercises their oncological right to be forgotten. The policyholder has to send certification to the distributor to certify the existence of the necessary requirements for the oncological right to be forgotten. Once the certification has been submitted, distributors have to delete the information held on the policyholder's or the insured person's past oncological condition in the next 30 days. The certification has to be retained for ten years.

 

Amendments and additions to Regulation 41

The Order also adds some new definitions on the oncological right to be forgotten. And it introduces amendments to the Life, IBIPs, Multi-risk and non-life Additional IPIDs on this right.

The Order indicates that the printed version of the Additional IPIDs can have an additional page than what it's required by Regulation 41 to add information on the oncological right to be forgotten (and to add information on the newly introduced Insurance Arbitrator).

The Order enters into force the day after its publication in the Italian Official Gazette.

Insurance undertakings and intermediaries have to comply with the Order (and modify MUPs and Additional IPIDs) within 15 days from its publication on the Italian Official Gazette.

The Order hasn't yet been published in the Italian Official Gazette. We'll keep you posted in this respect.

You can read the Order, and the modified MUPs and Additional IPIDs, in Italian, here.

 

Entry into force

The Order was published on 26 January 2026 in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic.

It came into force on 28 January.

The 15 days provided for by IVASS will begin to run from 28 January, allowing insurance undertakings to adapt to the changes introduced by the Order and to modify the MUPs and Additional IPIDs.