On the heap

The rule that restricts the sale of term life insurance to anyone over the age of 70 has long been branded both arcane and irrelevant. So, it was with a bit of a whimper that the industry greeted April's news of it being scrapped. The decision to remove the rule was prompted by Ed Balls, economic secretary to The Treasury. In April, he told the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) principles-based regulation conference that the rule should be scrapped. He said at the conference: "The FSA and The Treasury have been consulting jointly on deregulatory measures to simplify the rules on the ...