Regulation

The "diabolical" selling of protection back books needs to be regulated and restricted, with the new owners held accountable for the way the books are run, an industry expert says.

The insurance sector has been chastised for not engaging well enough with politicians and advisers have been urged to lobby their MPs.

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) has welcomed the FSA's decision to restart its funding review of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Clients' protection needs must take priority over investment ones in a simplified advice regime, the FSA has said.

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) and the Institute of Insurance Brokers (IIB) have called for regulatory barriers to be lowered and for the current inappropriate style and intensity of regulation to be reformed.

HM Treasury believes simple products by definition should be allowed to be sold without advice.

The Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (AMII) has applauded the latest Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) complaints statistics as a success for the health insurance sector.

Only one complaint about the structure of private medical insurance (PMI) contracts has been forwarded to the FSA by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), COVER has learned.

The Building Societies Association (BSA) believes regulatory intervention has provided a major barrier to insurance purchases and that the FSA's approach is "pretty flawed".

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today banned two insurance brokers for misconduct including falsifying documents and underinsuring clients for their own financial gain.