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Travel Insurance -
FSA Publishes Final Statement on New Regulations - 12/06/2008 |
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The Financial Services Authority has published a final statement setting out the new regulations for the sale of travel insurance.
According to the new regime travel agents must become FSA members or formal representatives of intermediaries if they want to continue selling insurance policies.
Applications will be accepted by the regulatory body as from the end of June and the new regime will come into force on January 1, next year.
FSA director of policy and themes, Dan Waters said that firms had been advised to apply well in advance of the start of the new scheme.
The FSA said it expects up to 200 travel firms to join the authority and fewer than 200 will become intermediaries.
Each application is expected to cost £1,500 and there will also be a quarterly charge of between £128 and £1,000. For those who apply early, there would be rewarded with a discount of 30 per cent.
Insurance firms are already being flooded with applications from prospective representatives, reports said.
Journeys Travel Insurance director, Patrick Chong said his company had received about 300 enquiries from agents who intend becoming the firm’s appointed representatives and that they were expecting half of those to complete the process.
But a Spokesman for the Association of British Travel Insurers (ABTA) warned that move could affect both the agents and people taking out travel insurance, leading to fewer sales.
“There are surprises here. Some of our members are likely to stop selling insurance and fewer people will travel with insurance,” he said.
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