Opinion

At the recent 4th Annual Insurance Forum in London one of the main topics, as you would expect, was the declining sales due to the lack of trust of the consumer caused by high rates of declined claims due to non-disclosure.

Another White Paper, another Government response. Forgive me for feeling blasé, but pension consultations have become ten-a-penny.

The two recent papers by the FSA - the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and the Platforms Review - are linked but not in their script.

Following my recent comments in this very column about how intermediaries could benefit their businesses by working closer with the media I'm on a bit of a rant this month I'm afraid, about a few life office representatives who comment to the press on...

Sometimes I think I must live in a parallel universe where attempting to sell products that are designed to help people when they fall on had times is seen as a capital crime and the butchers of Srebrenica are held up as model citizens.

Well, it's been a busy old week or so. Not only has the FSA been pretty busy with a series of discussion papers but there's been a whole lot of nonsense spoken on the back of the paper chase.

At a recent Association of International Life Offices (AILO) meeting, my AEGON Scottish Equitable colleague, Kate Smith of the Pensions Development Department, made a presentation about A-day one year on.

On the face of it, the U-turn by HBOS could be considered by some as embarrassing, but I look at it as proof the mortgage market is working well - and that has got to be good for customers and product providers alike.

There's been a lot of discussion about personal accounts in the last few weeks. In mid-June the DWP issued its statement on the responses it received to the White Paper consultation earlier this year, and took the opportunity of making some decisions...

A recent report from the Financial Ombudsman Service showed there was a 17% decline in the number of income protection and critical illness disputes it had received during the past 12 months compared with the previous year. What do you think of these...