Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Law Applicable to Contracts of Insurance) Regulations 2009 and come into force on 17th December 2009.

(2) In these Regulations—

^M3“the 2001 Regulations” means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Law Applicable to Contracts of Insurance) Regulations 2001;

“the Rome I Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17th June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) ^M4[^F1, as that Regulation has effect as [^F2assimilated direct^F2] legislation, unless the contractual obligations are ones in respect of which Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 has effect by virtue of Article 66 of the EU withdrawal agreement, in which case it means that Regulation as it has effect by virtue of that Article.^F1]

(3) Expressions used in regulations 4 and 5 and in the Rome I Regulation have the same meaning as in the Rome I Regulation unless the context requires otherwise.

Limited application of the 2001 Regulations

2.—(1) After regulation 3(1) of the 2001 Regulations insert—

“(1A)These Regulations do not apply to contracts of insurance entered into on or after 17th December 2009.”.

(2) In regulation 3(2) of the 2001 Regulations, after the words “friendly societies” insert “ before 17th December 2009 ”.

Application of the Rome I Regulation: conflicts [^F3between different parts of the United Kingdom^F3]

3.[^F4Article 7 of the Rome I Regulation, as that Regulation has effect as [^F5assimilated direct^F5] legislation,^F4] applies in the case of conflicts between—

(a)the laws of different parts of the United Kingdom, or

(b)the laws of one or more parts of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar,

in relation to contracts of insurance described in Article 7 of the Rome I Regulation as it applies in the case of conflicts between the laws of different countries.

Contracts of insurance of risks other than large risks: greater freedom of choice of law

4. Where, in the case of a contract of insurance to which Article 7(3) of the Rome I Regulation applies, the law referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of that Article, or one of the laws referred to in sub-paragraph (e) of that Article, is a law of any part of the United Kingdom, the parties to that contract may also choose as the law applicable to the contract—

(a)the law of another country; or

(b)the law of another part of the United Kingdom,

if that choice complies with Article 3, Article 6 and Articles 9 to 22 of that Regulation.

Community co-insurers

5. Where the parties to the contract may choose the applicable law under the Rome I Regulation or under regulation 4, and where the risk to which the contract relates is covered by Community co-insurance (within the meaning of [^F6Article 190 of the Solvency 2 Directive^F6] ), co-insurers other than the leading insurer (within the meaning of [^F7that Article^F7] ) are not to be treated as parties to the contract.