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Electrical Safety First  discuss older people have obtaining insurance and the issues they face from electrical accidents.

Historically, older people’s problems obtaining insurance have mostly related to motor and travel cover and these were addressed by the ‘signposting’ agreement introduced in 2012.

With many older people now choosing to stay in their own homes, sometimes with the health problems that age can bring, there are other issues which may need to be considered.  This is particularly important in relation to home insurance where,  while the vast majority (around 99%) of motor insurance claims are paid, one in five home insurance claims have been rejected.

Electrical safety for older people is rarely headline news, despite the fact that they are at greater risk from electrical accidents and fire than any other age group.  It is particularly important to address this as almost 50% of all domestic fires in Great Britain are caused by electricity and these types of fires also severely injure more than a quarter of a million people each year – significantly higher numbers than those affected by gas and carbon monoxide.

While there are significant benefits when people remain in their own homes for longer, as the home-owner grows older it may mean that  both electrical systems and appliances are aging too and in addition regular home safety checks are forgotten. A report by the charity, Electrical Safety First – Shock to the System: Electrical Safety in an Ageing Society – found that 42% of householders who have lived in their property for 30 or more years are living in dwellings which fail the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.

Older people tend to be owner-occupiers, often living in homes built before 1982 that can lack key electrical safety features, such as a modern fuse box or wiring. Yet critically, quality standards for social housing and the private rented sector do not apply to owner-occupied housing.  [Electrical Safety First’s] Research1 found also, that many of those who have lived in their home for decades have never thought about its electrical safety.

It is important to remember that electrical risk isn’t limited to those who live their later years under their own roof, surprisingly care homes are not legally required to carry out mandatory electrical safety checks either.

The charity recently focused its attention on Scotland, producing the report Age Safe Scotland: Electrical Safety in an Ageing Society.  It noted that while people aged 60 plus in Scotland make up just 18% of the population, they account for 37% of the casualties and fatalities involving electricity. It also found that between 2014 and 2015 there were 81 fires with an electrical source in Scottish care homes and the number of fires in that sector has increased over the last five years.

Having a basic appreciation of electrical safety might  help insurance brokers to advise client in relation to the additional risks they may face.

Electical Safelty Tips

Electrical Safety First recommends that a registered electrician should be used to undertake regular Electrical Installation Condition Reports – usually every 10 years – but even a basic visual check can identify potential risk. So here are the Charity’s top tips for what to look for when considering electrical safety for older people.

Fuse boxes: All fuse boxes should contain a main switch, fuses and/or circuit breakers. All modern fuse boxes will contain an RCD (Residual Current Device), which will rapidly cut the power to prevent an electric shock.  Older fuse boxes often have a wooden back, cast iron switches, or look like a mix of different fuse boxes.

Plugs and sockets: If the house has round pin sockets, braided flex hanging from ceiling fittings, or sockets mounted on skirting boards, then the electrical system could be over 50 years old. Plugs and sockets should not be damaged, show burn or scorch marks, or give out excessive heat or make a crackling sound when in use.

Light fittings: As with plugs and sockets, any overheating, discolouration or scorching is a warning sign. If there are signs of cracking or burn-marks around light fittings, they should not be used.

Cables: These should be in good condition, with no sign of damage, cracking or splitting and should be enclosed in a PVC sheath. Signs of excessive wear and tear on appliance cables should also be checked.  Trailing leads or cables can be very dangerous for older people and should be placed out of the way..

 

Socket overload:  Overloading sockets can lead to fire – and different types of electrical products use different amounts of power.  Plugging just a toaster and a kettle into an extension lead can overload and making a ‘daisy-chain’ of extension leads can also cause problems.  Electrical Safety First recommends using a multi-way bar extension lead rather than a block adaptor.

Kitchen safety: Fires can be caused by the build-up of fat on electric cookers, microwave air vents being blocked by objects being left on top of them, or by dirt, dust and crumbs blocking ventilation and causing products to overheat.

Bathroom safety: Any electrical work in the bathroom must be carried out by a registered electrician. All light fittings should be enclosed and out of reach of wet hands;  ceiling-mounted pull cord switches are preferable wall-mounted. If there are mains sockets they should be at least 3 metres away from the bath or shower. Water heaters should be fixed and permanently wired, unless powered by a socket at the required distance from the bath or shower.

Safe storage: There is real fire risk if the cupboard where the fuse boxes and meters are located is also used to store flammable items such as coats or cleaning materials. If this is a cupboard under the stairs it is additionally risky as a fire in this area might  cut off an escape route.

Portable heaters:  These cause a significant number of domestic fires each year. To be used safely they should be kept on a level surface well away from combustible material and never left unattended or used while sleeping. They should not be powered via an extension lead, as they can easily overheat and start a fire.

Electrical Safety First has developed a series of tools to enhance electrical safety and reduce risk. In addition to a range of guides, it has produced an app for mobile phones which allow a quick, visual check of home electrics and an online tool to help prevent overloading sockets. For more information, visit the website at: www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk.

Electrical Safety First is a campaigning charity dedicated to preventing deaths, injuries and damage caused by electricity. It works with industry, NGOs, Westminster and the Devolved Governments, to improve electrical safety. It is currently lobbying for free, five yearly electrical safety checks for all households with one person of pensionable age, as well as mandatory checks in the social rented and care sectors.

 

  1. A Shock to the System – Electrical Safety in an Ageing Society. Issued Jan 2015 and produced in collaboration with The International Longevity Centre UK

 

The post A Shock to the System – Electrical Safety in an Ageing Society appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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We have continued to make progress overnight and this morning, and will be in contact with more of our customers today to help them reconfigure their individual systems.

We experienced some network issues connecting to our Powergate Data Centre which caused an intermittent service for part of this morning.

It is not related to the initial power outage incident in Solihull, nor the migration work currently being undertaken for our affected customers.

The problem has now been fixed and services have returned to normal.

We were able to continue our restoration work during this period.

We are working to get to each of our customers to restore full service as quickly as possible and we appreciate that the situation is frustrating for those still without services.

Many thanks for your patience.

 

SSP

The post SSP update appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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Apologies again for the continued disruption to your business caused by our outage.

We are continuing with our restoration process, have a number added to the number of customers live and operational, with others in testing and preparation for implementation tomorrow.

The order of implementation is partly driven by the scale and complexity of the individual customer’s system. Over the course of today we have put live customers across a range of different profiles, including some of the larger and more complex customers along with others that are smaller and less complex. This approach has helped us to refine the restoration process and the pace of implementation will accelerate as we move forward.

Another factor that influences the timing of implementation of an individual customer is the availability of the non-transactional data that we require to complete the configuration, and that the customer requires to support it operations. This data resides in one of a number of file stores. We have ‘unpacked’ the first two of our four file stores, and work on another two is progressing. We are focusing on completing the unpacking of these stores as rapidly as possible, while getting customers for whom data is already available live in parallel.

Our account managers have been calling customers that are nearing live ahead of the day that we expect to enable them to get online, to inform them of timing and preparation arrangements. We apologise that some of these calls have turned out to be premature because the last few steps of operational testing and deployment have taken longer than expected.

We recognise that all of our affected customers need to be live as soon as possible. Work continues around the clock on the configuration, implementation and data unpacking work.

A further update on progress will be provided tomorrow.

Kind regards

SSP

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Over the course of today we have been continuing work on the ‘unpacking’ of data and setting up of individual customer system instances in our alternate Data Centre site, and have worked with a number of our customers to bring their systems back online successfully.

Because our focus is on getting all of our customers back up and able to trade as rapidly as we can in the new centre, for some customers the initial implementation will include the core system functionality and 100% of their transactional data to the point in time that the outage occurred, but not all of the historic document store will be available from ‘day 1’ of the restoration, and the email service will be reduced. Both of these areas will be caught up on within second phases of restoration, and once we have all customers trading.

We recognise that all of our customers that are not yet restored need to be so as soon as possible. We are working around the clock on the data unpacking, application configuration and testing work to achieve this as quickly as we can. Speed of unpacking data is a key factor – which is why we are prioritising transactional data and leaving the document folders for a second phase.

Once again, we apologise for the disruption caused by the outage.
SSP

The post Update regarding the ongoing Major Incident at Solihull Data Centre appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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Our systems and people are currently coping well, and we continue to operate normal service standards for all brokers and customers.

For our SSP ‘Pure’ users affected, we contacted a large proportion directly last week to find out their concerns and offer direct assistance.

Our customer services and claims teams have been fully briefed and we have introduced special measures, applicable both to motor and home business, to help brokers and claimants until SSP’s service is resumed.

New business & mid-term adjustments

Our brokers can process new business and policy adjustments manually or issue cover notes which are available. Our Underwriting Services Team have also been briefed and can assist with any queries on 0330 2210777.

Renewals

Brokers will have an extended renewals window, allowing them to confirm renewals once the system is back online, and we are not asking them to provide proof of policyholder intention to renew.

Claims

We have a special team of claims handlers and manual processes in place to help us identify affected customers so that we can ensure there is no customer detriment.

Should brokers have any queries, please contact our underwriting services team on 0330 2210777 who will be able to assist.

The post Covea support and contact details for brokers during SSP outage appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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We are continuing work on the ‘unpacking’ of data and setting up of individual customer system instances in our alternate Data Centre site.

Early this morning we started the process of contacting those customers whose systems are becoming available, so that our service team could support them through the process to get up and running. A number of customers are now live, and are now online and using their systems again.

We will establish a clearer view of the likely timing of restoration of individual customers as we get further through the technical processes. We will be contacting individual customers as soon as we have estimated time of restoration to discuss with them.

Once again, we apologise for the disruption caused by the outage.

The post SSP – Further updates appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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There has been no unauthorised disclosure of personal data arising from, or related to the interruption of service to SSP’s Solihull data centre. SSP operates an information security management system, which is compliant with ISO/IEC 27001:2013 throughout its premises and data centres.

The post SSP Update appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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“MIB continues to work closely with SSP and MIB Members to offer support and guidance during the service outage. As soon as SSP is able to restore its systems to normal then we will work with its team to ensure that the records relating to motorists using the affected SSP platform are updated on the Motor Insurance Database (MID).

“SSP has provided MIB with a list of brokers affected by the loss of this particular platform and we are helping to mitigate the potential impact and support police officers through our contact centre. Our agents will support officers at the roadside through direct enquiries with  brokers, as we always do, to make sure that innocent motorists are not impacted.”

Neil Drane, Head of Enforcement Services, MIB

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Update regarding the ongoing Major Incident at Solihull Data Centre.

Further to the update provided this morning, we continue with the restoration activities and are focused on being able to provide some clarity following the additional hardware failure last night.

Please be assured we are doing our upmost to provide clarity and we can only again apologise for the inconvenience.

We‘ll endeavour to send updates as and when they become available, and will ensure a further communication is issued before the end of the day.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Account Manager.

Kind regards

SSP Major Incident Management Team

The post UPDATE: Solihull Data Centre Power Outage appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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BIBA has spoken with SSP about the problems this week. SSP has asked that specific queries from their users be directed to them. We are in dialogue with SSP to explain what exactly happened and what steps they have taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

We have also liaised with the MIB regarding the Motor Insurance Database and our advice would be to liaise directly with your insurer until this is resolved.

The most recent statement from SSP states:

Update regarding the ongoing Major Incident at Solihull Data Centre.

Unfortunately, during the evening of 1st September we encountered a hardware failure in our storage facility, which has set back our timeline for getting service restored to the customers affected by the incident.

The ‘Storage Area Network’ (SAN) is the high volume disk array that is at the centre of the service. It comprises a large number of storage disks, grouped into cassettes, over which the business and configuration data that supports our systems is housed. It was damage to a small number of these disks following the exceptional disruption to power supply that caused the original loss of service. With support from HP we have dealt with the original damage to the disks and were a long way through the process of restoring the environments and data required to support our customers, when the work was interrupted by a recurrence of the original problem.

It is of course very regrettable that we are now unlikely to fulfil our objective of starting to get customers live today (Friday).

We are of course working hard to sort out the recurrence of this issue, while progressing with those restoration activities that can be undertaken in parallel.

The process of recovering data that was affected by the recurrence will take some time. We are working on estimating that impact as a matter of urgency. We will provide a further update on our next steps and timing as soon as we can. We are targeting 12:00 noon today for the next update.

Once again, SSP apologises for the disruption to the businesses of our affected customers and to the inconvenience that this incident is causing their staff, management and customers. We are giving the resolution work the highest priority within our business.

We appreciate your frustration at the length of time this is taking to resolve the issue. We are extremely frustrated at not being able to bring our affected customers back to full functionality as quickly as we would hope.Kind regards SP Major Incident Management Team.

End of statement.

Once the situation has been resolved BIBA will bome back to you with a final update

 

Steve White

BIBA Chief Executive

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  1. Have you taken part in the trial of the new test, in the capacity of an ADI (answers only requested from ADIs)?

We have not answered this question as we are responding on behalf of an organisation.

  1. Have you taken part in the trial of the new test, in the capacity of a learner/ accompanying driver (answers only requested from learner/newly qualified/accompanying drivers)?

We have not answered this question as we are responding on behalf of an organisation.

  1. Do you agree with the proposal to increase the independent driving section of the test from 10 to 20 minutes?

Yes, as that would increase the time that instructors have to view the natural behaviours of the driver as they negotiate a route they have chosen to get from one location to another.

  1. Have you any comments on the proposal to increase the independent driving section in the test from 10 to 20 minutes?

Increasing the driving element gives the instructor more time to observe behaviours; however, the classroom element of the test should be a very important part of the process of learning to drive.

Results from Northumbria Police prove that classroom training for speed awareness courses improves awareness of road safety issues, with 78% of drivers who attended saying they are more likely to keep to the speed limit and 91% learning something new.

96% said these courses should be offered to more drivers to make roads safer. BIBA and our Motor Panel, including the AA which has enormous experience of providing driver education courses on behalf of the police as well as driving schools, believe improving access to road safety education will dramatically improve the preparedness and ultimate safety of young drivers. These drivers are currently the highest risk element of the driving community, with more than five times the propensity to be involved in an accident than an over 35-year-old driver.

As such, BIBA believe that the learning provided in these types of courses should be provided to learner drivers to help prevent speeding, therefore reducing the number of accidents on the roads. The driving test provides an obvious opportunity for this to happen.

As insurance premiums are risk based and young drivers often have the highest premiums because of their increased rate and severity of accidents, another benefit of this approach may be more competitive insurance premiums.

Fewer accidents will mean the risk profile of young drivers would lessen, enabling the insurance industry to reflect this in terms of premiums.

 

  1. Do you agree with the proposal to include the use of sat navs in the independent driving section?

As satellite navigations systems are used on a regular basis, it seems sensible to include their use in the driving test as it reflects normal driving experiences. However, this part of the test should be careful not to take anything away from the important independent part of the test which involves navigating to a particular location as reading directional road signs is an important part of driving.

Members also raised the point that sat navs vary in their presentation and functionality and can also contain map errors. This should be taken into consideration.

  1. Have you any comments on the proposal to include the use of sat navs in the independent driving section?

Extreme care should be given to avoid the unintended consequence of encouraging people to use mobile phones behind the wheel. Many smartphones now contain the functionality to act as navigation devices, similar to sat navs. There is a concern from our members that encouraging the use of sat navs in the test may also encourage people to use mobile phones – an offence which was recently consulted on by the DFT.

During driving instruction and the test itself however, it must be strongly emphasised that these devices should need to be fixed to the vehicle in a cradle or similar and only programmed when the vehicle is stationary. It is not uncommon for drivers to either programme these or hold the device whilst driving – inhibiting their ability to use both hands and react to hazards in an appropriate way.

The final concern we have is regarding those that use a mobile phone as a sat nav device. These devices will continue to display notifications of messages or social media updates whilst in operation. We have concerns that this may distract the driver and tempt them to read the message or notification which would be both dangerous and distracting.

  1. How often do you replace your sat nav?

We have not answered this question as we are responding on behalf of an organisation.

  1. Do you agree with the proposal to modify manoeuvres so they take place during the natural course of the drive and augmenting them with new, realistic exercises?

Yes.

  1. Have you any comments on the proposal to modify manoeuvres so they take place during the natural course of the drive and augmenting them with new, realistic exercises?

This seems like a common sense approach which would replicate real-world driving, so long as the manoeuvres continued to form an integral part of the driving test.

  1. Do you agree with the proposal to change the format of the vehicle safety questions so that one of the two questions is asked while on the move?

Yes.

  1. Do you have any comments on the proposal to change the format of the vehicle safety questions so that one of the two questions is asked while on the move?

This seems like a common sense approach which would replicate real-world driving, as well as providing the most efficient use of time during the test.

The post BIBA responded to the DVSA Improving the Car Driving Test consultation appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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BIBA’s Insurance Brokers’ Standards Committee has recently been formed to define good practice for the broking community and to provide guidance on a range of issues relevant to our profession. We are aware that one of the key frustrations for brokers and insurers alike is alleged poor market behaviour which can negatively impact the reputation of brokers in the eyes of our clients, the regulator, as well as the wider industry.

As brokers, we all want a dynamic, innovative and competitive UK insurance market, and putting our client’s best long term interests first is a key part of this.

BIBA is committed to creating a Good Market Practice Guide which will look to provide guidance for members.

Please take part in our short four question survey to inform us on what you believe to be the most pressing issues – click here

The survey closes on 15 September 2016

The post Broking Market Behaviour Survey appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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The Financial Conduct Authority has written to firms confirming that it will not be taking forward changes proposed in Consultation Paper 12/20 as a result of its review of the client money regime for general insurance intermediaries.

The existing rules and guidance in Chapter 5 of the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) remain in place as they are and general insurance intermediaries holding client money or operating under risk transfer agreements are required to comply with these.

The FCA said in a statement: “The consultation process is designed to encourage stakeholders to share their views with the FCA so the right policy is put in place before changes to rules are made.  Following feedback received on the original proposals, re-consideration of their costs and benefits in light of the new requirements brought about by the Financial Services Act 2012, and review of additional data collected about the impact of the proposals on smaller firms, the FCA has concluded that it would not be proportionate to proceed with the proposed rule changes at this time.”

The regulator said that it had been working very closely with the industry, including trade bodies such as BIBA, since publication of CP12/20 in August 2012.  The FCA believes that the industry has increased its focus on protecting client money and engaging with its policies in this area.  A number of initiatives had also been introduced that are leading to improvements. These include:

  • an enhanced proactive CASS supervision strategy for general insurance intermediaries, informed by the review of audit reports from approximately 400 firms, has been rolled out; and
  • an updated reporting requirement applicable to general insurance intermediaries holding client money (RMA-C), which will help the regulator collect more robust information from firms.

The FCA intends to continue to work with general insurance intermediaries to mitigate risks such as conditional risk transfer and incorrect client money calculations and reconciliations. Where poor practice is appropriate steps will be taken to ensure client money is protected.

The FCA said it will not pursue any rule changes to CASS 5 without a new consultation.

BIBA members’ compliance and regulation queries should be directed to: compliance@biba.org.uk

 

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We are pleased to offer members an update on intruder alarms from Tony Week’s, Technical Manager at the National Security and Investigations

It is common for insurers and brokers to specify that commercial customers protect their premises with an intruder alarm system on Police Response. Although it is less common to require this in the domestic sector the benefits to the insurer and consumer of requiring this are the same.

Most in the insurance sector will be aware that only approved companies, certificated by the specialist third party certification bodies in the security sector, National Security and Investigations (NSI) or Security Systems & Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) can install Police Response systems. What may be less clear is what the benefits are of specifying the use of these installers, and this article provides that clarity.

It may be worth reminding ourselves of the system for Police Response in the UK. This is laid out in the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) guidance on Police Requirements Response to Security Systems 2015[1]. For the police to respond to a confirmed alarm activation the system has to have a Unique Reference Number (URN) allocated by them in accordance with the guidance. In order to qualify for a URN some basic requirements apply:

  • The system itself must comply with BSI document PD 6662, which includes compliance with the EN 50131 and EN 50136 series of European Standards. It is typical to specify Grade 2 systems with Grade 3 being reserved for higher risks.
  • The company supplying the system must be approved by NSI or SSAIB.
  • The alarm must be subject to a maintenance contract from a company approved by NSI or SSAIB.
  • The system must be monitored by an Alarm Receiving Centre that receives alarm signals from the system, and this must be approved by NSI or SSAIB.

So why is there this repeated reference to third party certification in the Police Response Guidance? The simple answer is that effective and reliable intruder alarm systems are installed, maintained and monitored by effective and reliable companies, and the tried and tested way to identify these companies is through rigorous third party certification. Third party certification is the rock on which the URN system is based.
Both certification bodies look at the technical competence of the companies seeking and wishing to keep approval, and their compliance with key standards and code of practice. So from initial application for approval onwards their technical capabilities are continually assessed; all are inspected annually with an audit of their performance and physical checks on installations they have completed.

But this is not just about technical competence. Additionally the certification bodies check that the companies:

  • operate from adequate secure premises
  • are run by reputable, experienced management and are financially stable
  • have screened all directors and staff against BS7858 to confirm their suitability to work in this sensitive sector
  • have trained their staff and equipped them with appropriate tools and equipment
  • hold comprehensive and appropriate insurance cover
  • provide 24-hour cover in the event of emergencies

Most companies certificated by NSI are awarded NACOSS Gold approval. This not only confirms technical and administrative compliance but adds an additional layer by requiring them to operate an ISO 9001 Quality Management System. NSI maintain that managing a business through the internationally recognised 9001 standard provides a clear indication of commitment to quality, and experience has shown that this delivers a more effective and reliable service to consumers. While NSI “would say that wouldn’t they” they state that, regardless of which certification body has approved the company their operation of a QMS raises standards of performance and improves business reliability.

From the insurers’ perspective specifying Police Response for a customer therefore is not simply about Blue Light response. What it really means is that the customer’s system has been installed and is maintained and monitored by well established, professional, competent companies that operate with integrity. It is an unbroken chain of assurance to the police and customer, and ultimately to the insurer. This takes the form of fewer false alarms disrupting the customer’s life and business, and wasting precious police resources, to better protection and greater peace of mind for the consumer and fewer claims for insurers.

In terms of The Insurance Act 2015 which requires insureds to disclose all material circumstances, or to put a prudent insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries to reveal those material circumstances the first question to ask is: “Do you have an intruder alarm system on Police Response?”  The response should clarify a great deal and help in assessing the risk.  [Please see the Technical Bulletin – ‘Insurance Act 2015: Establishing details of an Intruder Alarm System posted on our website on 22/6/2016] 

The Police Response system has been hugely successful in reducing false alarms and in so doing has increased confidence in the security installations industry by raising standards, and improved service to the customer. All of this rests on the foundation of Third Party Certification.

And even if Police Response is not required, the benefits of using a NSI or SSAIB approved company to provide a PD 6662 system are clearly beneficial.

With thanks to Tony Weeks at NSI for this bulletin.

[1] This can be downloaded from the Secured by Design Website at: http://www.securedbydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Security_Systems_Policy_2015.pdf

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26/05/2016 Y5003 – Line size definitions for SBF reporting (58.67 KB, pdf) Performance Management Theresa Froehlich


25/05/2016 Y5002 – Performance Management – Supplemental Requirements and Guidance: 2016 Update (501.38 KB, pdf) Performance Management Theresa Froehlich


24/05/2016 Y5001 – Corporate Interavailability – Conditions and Requirements (109.19 KB, pdf) Finance Risk Mgmt And Operations Steve Jules


23/05/2016 Y5000 – Code for Underwriting Agents: UK Personal Lines Claims & Complaints Handling – Update (June 2016) (380.35 KB, pdf) Finance Risk Mgmt And Operations Paul Brady


20/05/2016 Y4999 – UK insurance premium tax (IPT) rate change (2016) (72.11 KB, pdf) Finance Risk Mgmt And Operations Nick Marman


16/05/2016 Y4998 – Coverholder Regional Mapping Amendments (65.67 KB, pdf) Performance Management Peter Montanaro


12/05/2016 Y4997 – Newfoundland (Canada) – Reintroduction of retail sales tax (RST) (43.37 KB, pdf) Finance Risk Mgmt And Operations Nick Marman


11/05/2016 Y4996 – Canadian GST/HST Self-Assessment (51.32 KB, pdf) Finance Risk Mgmt And Operations Mary O’Brien


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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Policy Statement 16/21 which reports on the main issues arising from Consultation Paper 15/41 and confirms the final rules and non-Handbook guidance designed to increase transparency and engagement at renewal in the general insurance market.

Proposed measures in CP15/41  went across all retail general insurance products and included: disclosure of last year’s premium at each renewal; inclusion of text encouraging consumers to check their insurance cover and shop around; and firm’s provision of a prescribed shopping around message to consumers who will be renewing with a firm for the fourth consecutive time.

The FCA said it was proceeding with the proposals set out in CP15/41 but that it had made some changes in response to the feedback received (113 responses in total were submitted):

  • This includes a new requirement that where a consumer’s circumstances have changed during the course of holding their policy, firms must give an annualised premium reflecting any mid-term adjustments (MTAs), instead of last year’s premium. Where there have been no MTAs firms must give the consumer the premium they started the current policy with.
  • An amendment to the ‘shopping around’ disclosure that firms must provide, so that consumers are encouraged to consider cover when shopping around as well as price. The reminder now reads: You have been with us for a number of years. You may be able to get the insurance cover you want at a better price if you shop around’.
  • Ten-month policies have been brought within the scope of the requirements.

 

Members may access PS16/21 by clicking here.

The implementation deadline has been extended by three months to 1st April 2017 in order to allow firms more time to comply with the new requirements.

BIBA members’ compliance and regulation queries should be directed to: compliance@biba.org.uk

The post FCA pushes ahead with plans to increase transparency and consumer engagement at renewal appeared first on British Insurance Brokers' Association.

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12th August 2016

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has welcomed the Insurance Act 2015 which is implemented today. The Act is designed to increase professionalism in the placing of commercial insurance and aims to provide fairer outcomes for customers but will also bring new considerations for brokers and businesses when arranging insurance.

The Act will affect every business insurance policy placed, renewed or amended after today and is the biggest change to insurance law in more than 100 years. It will modernise insurance law and aims to make seeking payment from insurers simpler and fairer in the event of a claim.

The Act includes many positive developments that BIBA lobbied for, such as outlawing the ‘basis of the contract’ clauses which previously turned information provided by customers into warranties so that any change (even trivial or immaterial) could have led to termination of the contract.

BIBA also succeeded in lobbying for ‘terms not relevant to the actual loss’ to be outlawed meaning, for example, that if a policyholder has to comply with a warranty to turn on a burglar alarm but a claim is caused by a flood, then the insurer will accept the claim.

The Act will bring new requirements for customers, which could impact brokers, such as the ‘duty of fair presentation’ and the obligation of ‘reasonable search’. BIBA has worked with leading experts on insurance governance, Mactavish, to publish a number of guides for its members and their customers to assist with its implementation.

Steve White, BIBA’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted that the Insurance Act is now in force.  In the lead up to today, our members asked for guidance and I am pleased that we have been able to provide a number of publications to support them. We know there will not be absolute certainty until some of the Act’s provisions have been tested in court, but armed with all of the information available, our members will be able to advise customers on the provisions of the Act.”

Although the Act is welcomed and will bring benefits, BIBA is calling on insurers who may choose to ‘contract out’ of the Act or parts of it, to be clear about this and bring any disadvantageous terms to the attention of brokers.

Steve added: “The industry has never experienced such a massive change in the legislation governing our practices, and we would like brokers and insurers to engage with each other in a way which adopts the Act’s requirements, to create a fair and transparent approach for all. We have provided a toolkit to help firms in our new implementation guide.”

Bruce Hepburn, Mactavish Chief Executive Officer, commented: “With the emphasis on a more professional market, the new law is a great opportunity for brokers to add value by providing crucial client advice and for policyholders to focus on the quality of what they have purchased rather than price alone.  With the implementation of the Act, the ideal scenario would be for participants to be not only compliant but to also reap the intended benefits of the new regime.”

The guides created by BIBA and Mactavish can be downloaded from BIBA’s website www.biba.org.uk

Notes to editors

  1. For further information please contact:

    BIBA press office:
    Pam Quinn, Head of Communications
    020 7397 0223
    quinnp@biba.org.uk

Leighann Forsyth; Deputy Head of Communications
020 7397 0223
forsythl@biba.org.uk

 

  1. About the British Insurance Brokers’ Association

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is the UK’s leading general insurance intermediary organisation representing the interests of insurance brokers, intermediaries and their customers.

BIBA membership includes just under 2,000 regulated firms.

General insurance brokers contribute 1% of GDP to the UK economy and BIBA brokers employ more than 100,000 staff.

54% of all general insurance is sold by an insurance broker and they arrange 78% of all commercial insurance business.

Insurance brokers put the client’s interests first, providing advice, access to suitable insurance protection and risk management.

BIBA helps more than 250,000 people a year to access insurance protection through its Find a Broker service, both online and via the telephone.

BIBA is the voice of the sector advising members, the regulators, consumer bodies and other stakeholders on key insurance issues.

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