From next year all employees (that's to say, those that are meet scheme membership requirements) accumulate vested rights regardless of age and length of membership. In other words the Belgian translation of the so called European 'portability directive.'

Europe aspires to instil greater similarity, and hence greater simplicity across individual national legal systems. Although Europe still allows exceptions, the Belgian legislature takes a more stringent line, for instance, by allowing no exception whatsoever to the requirement of being signed up to group insurance. The clear aim is to waste no time in achieving greater simplicity and transparency.

It is currently permissible for employers to put back new employees' membership of group insurance schemes until no later than the moment they turn 25.

Alternative membership criteria that may be incorporated into a group insurance scheme include:

- membership put back to age 25;
- membership put back till employee's worked for six months, so long as that doesn't extend beyond their 25th birthday.

Under the new law, a delayed start to membership of a group insurance scheme is proscribed and those qualifying under the insured category have to sign up immediately come 1 January 2019.

Workers directly impacted by the new rule are informed of that fact to give them time to get the paperwork done in time.

Reserves constituted with contributions paid in by an employer do not currently vest in the employee under the scheme if they leave within a year of their membership starting. If they do, the reserve goes to the scheme's financing fund.

The new rules provide that all reserves, including those stemming from employer contributions, vest immediately, as was hitherto the case only for those comprising employee contributions.

As a consequence, smaller amounts can frequently appear as reserves on the individual accounts of people who quit their job. In a bid to contain the amount of paperwork in such cases, the law says that, where a member quits without yet having accumulated 150 euros of reserve, they cannot exercise any option over how the reserve is managed. Their reserve continues under the scheme in accordance with the then set-up as regards cover, and we stop writing in that regard to either the employer or the employee.

The Financial Services and Markets Authority, or FSMA for short, is the authority with oversight responsibility in the field of occupational pensions.

Legislation sometimes leaves room for interpretation. In cases where customers and insurers are better served by its doing so, the FSMA issues an interpretive position paper. In so doing, it often looks to how a rule is actually applied. The results of its scrutiny then affect its construction of the law.

The following changes are all the product of position papers issued by the FSMA and therefore have authority of law.

The FSMA wants to ensure a clearer understanding of costs and yield. Some of the clarifications it requires also apply to the rules governing your pension scheme.

As a result, pension regulations have to state that employee contributions are deducted from 'net salary' (rather than just 'salary', as in the current general conditions governing your group insurance scheme). Schemes must also make it clear that contractual guarantees of interest levels emanate from us as insurer and not the policyholder itself.

Since the rules underwent change in 2017, supplementary death cover has continued as standard, even if no premiums are paid (temporarily or for good). The rule means member employees can rest assured that their cover is uninterrupted. After all, just because the premium stops being paid doesn't mean there's no need of death cover (like if the employment contract is suspended or the employee falls ill, and is maybe even dismissed as a consequence).

The FSMA takes the view, however, that the law offers no basis for continuing supplementary death cover once the employment relationship has ended.

It's a matter on which we've had several meetings with them over the past two years. In the wake of which, we agreed with them to bring our terms into line with the legislation; they read as follows from next January:

• Supplementary death cover ceases where the payment of premiums ceases indefinitely, which is where the group insurance scheme comes to a stop or scheme membership eligibility ends because of a change to their work status or position or if their employment ends.
• Supplementary death cover continues where the payment of premiums ceases temporarily, such as where a member's employment is suspended in combination with time credit or work disability. In such cases, members and their families continue to enjoy cover for the event of the member's untimely death.

Note: this change only concerns your Team Benefit Plan/Team Benefit bonus or your Keyman Benefit Plan for your employees. Not your group insurance (in the routine sense of the term).

Even though the law doesn't specifically require us to do so, we're changing your contract so that it complies with the rules.

We'll send you the revised terms and conditions if you take out a new contract or change the scheme under your existing contract.

If you're not immediately planning to change your scheme under the current contract you can soon read the revised terms and conditions here (that's the general ones of course).

• General terms and conditions Team Benefit Plan (Dutch)
• General terms and conditions Team Benefit Bonus (Dutch)
• General terms and conditions Keyman Benefit Plan for employees (Dutch)
• General conditions classic group insurance defined contribution (Dutch)
• General conditions classic group insurance defined benefit (Dutch)