The BIBA has welcomed the new Policy Statement from the Government’s Equality Office. Proposed new measures will help ensure that customers can obtain the insurance they require and which is right for them. For example, an older traveller with a medical condition who has experienced some difficulty in finding travel insurance.
The proposed new laws will make it compulsory for insurance providers who decline to provide cover (e.g. because of a persons age), to refer customers to a more appropriate source, like a specialist insurance broker, or to a signposting system. BIBA describes ‘signposting’ as a way of helping consumers who are turned down at point of sale (telephone, internet, face to face) to be directed to an independent source of information that can offer assistance in finding the relevant insurance cover.
Signposting will greatly benefit customers who may be considered as non standard risks, such as younger drivers. Currently when these customers are refused cover by an insurer they are left to continue their search alone without knowledge that insurance is available or where to obtain it. The signposting/referral system will be of particular help with motor and travel insurance as these are the areas identified where some people have difficulty finding an insurance policy.
Greater assistance for customers is needed and is delighted that signposting will become compulsory. BIBA has an established ‘Find a Broker’ helpline and website that already helps customers to find a specialist insurance broker who can provide suitable insurance. However, BIBA believes there are many more consumers who are refused cover from comparison sites and direct insurers who are unaware of this helpful service and that an insurance broker can insure them.
Graeme Trudgill, BIBA Technical and Corporate Affairs Executive, said: “There is a solution through insurance brokers who can cover extremely difficult risks. It really is just a case of knowing where to go. This new requirement for signposting, once introduced, will help customers to find the protection they need, otherwise they run the risk of travelling uninsured, we know of some that have even decided not to go on holiday as they could not find insurance.”
Peter Staddon, BIBA Head of Technical Services, added: “BIBA will continue to work with the Government to ensure the appropriate signposting and referral systems are put in place.”
The BIBA find a broker helpline and website is well established and takes more than 340,000 enquires per year from customers who have been signposted from a range of consumer bodies and BIBA hopes that its service will form part of the formal signposting system as it has already proven to assist customers in finding all types of insurance.
