ABI

A leaked consultation paper from the Association of British Insurers on telephone and online applications for protection insurance has been criticised for ignoring the issue of customer signatures.

The majority of providers seem to be waiting until the last possible moment before they implement the ABI's new critical illness definitions, but I'm still not convinced they will make product and marketing material any clearer.

Bright Grey is incorporating the Association of British Insurers' new critical illness definitions from the start of next week and is adding four new illnesses to its cover.

Chris Phillips, the outgoing chief executive of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, has died suddenly during a walking holiday in Spain.

Although pension deficits have now decreased to £26bn, the accounting measurement Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS17) is hiding the underlying volatility of scheme deficits, claims Aon Consulting.

A national system of generic advice could cost just £50m, less than half the estimated figure published in a Select Committee report, claims the Resolution Foundation.

I imagine Ed Balls raised a lot of hopes in the protection industry following his announcement that insurance will be a key priority for the next steps of the government's financial inclusion strategy.

The Financial Services Authority has reached an agreement with the payment protection insurance industry which aims to stop firms including nil refund terms in contracts with customers.

The decision to measure pension deficits under Financial Reporting Standard 17 could be driving companies and trustees into a more conservative investment strategy which could prove costly in the long term, claims the Association of British Insurers....

The government must play a part in ensuring the ICOB review closes the price gap between advised and non-advised protection sales, says John Greenway MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services.