Insurance

Mr. Oaten
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he has issued guidance on best practice for insurance renewal offers.

Ian Pearson
[holding answer 14 October 2008]: The Financial Services Authority is responsible for regulating insurance companies headquartered in the UK. In addition to the high level principle that all insurance firms should treat their customers fairly, the FSA have issued two specific rules that apply to renewals.

Insurance Conduct of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS) 6.1.5R states that a firm must provide appropriate information in good time to allow the customer to make an informed decision about the arrangements proposed.

‘Good time' is determined by ICOBS 6.1.8G: ‘in determining what is in good time', a firm should consider the importance of the information to the customer's decision-making process and the point at which the information may be most useful.