ICOB: is a two-tier regime appropriate?

clock

The Financial Services Authority's proposal to split the ICOB regime into two categories has been broadly welcomed by the industry, but questions remain over whether the line between ‘protection' products and ‘other general insurance' products has been drawn in the right place.

The FSA released a paper last week assessing the level of risk each type of insurance product presents and provisionally placing them into two categories: other general insurance products – motor, household, travel and private medical insurance (PMI); and protection products – term, critical illness, income protection and payment protection insurance (PPI). The regulator believes the level of material market failure in the sale of protection products to retail consumers justifies it applying more stringent rules than to general insurance products, where it says the market “works reasonab...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Protection

Guardian launches two critical illness products

Guardian launches two critical illness products

Focus on cost and quality

Cameron Roberts
clock 08 June 2026 • 2 min read
Kevin Carr on AI: I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg

Kevin Carr on AI: I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg

'The technology is evolving faster than many of us can imagine'

Kevin Carr
clock 13 May 2026 • 4 min read
Life insurance: Complexity vs cost and the confidence gap

Life insurance: Complexity vs cost and the confidence gap

Complexity and uncertainty create frustration for consumers and operational drag for advisers

Kevin Carr
clock 30 April 2026 • 4 min read