The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed a smattering of temporary measures to help customers who hold insurance and premium finance products and who may be in financial difficulty because of COVID-19.
“As with other areas of finance, we have worked quickly to draw up measures to help policyholders in financial difficulty because of coronavirus,” Sheldon Mills, interim executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA. “The majority of respondents expressed support for the proposals we published at the start of May. Many firms in the insurance industry have already taken some of the actions we are suggesting here to support customers, such as premium reductions, discounts, waiving fees, and payment deferrals. The measures confirmed today will provide urgent support to those that need it.’
The measures will come into force on Monday May 18 2020 and will be reviewed in the next three months in the light of developments regarding coronavirus and may be revised if appropriate.
Insurers are not expected to conduct the several actions in order to make sure their clients are not financially harmed because of the pandemic. These measures include reassessing the risk profile of customers, considering whether there are other products they can offer which would better meet the customer’s needs and revise the cover accordingly and waiving cancellation and other fees associated with adjusting customers’ policies.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
