All change for consumer insurance law

In the last edition of IR&A , Stephen Netherway of CMS Cameron McKenna reviewed the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission proposals for reform of insurance law in the UK. In this article Mr Netherway and Jonathan Thorpe discuss the substance of the reforms, and consider the implications for those offering consumer and business insurance in further detail.

The legal changes proposed to consumer insurance law may not appear too dramatic to insurers currently selling such lines of business; at the moment they must abide by decisions of the Financial Ombudsman’s Service (FOS) and the changes that are being currently contemplated by the Commissions are clearly intended to bring the law in line with current actual FOS and indeed FSA practice and guidance. The wish to bring legal clarity to an area where principles of existing law, FSA regulation and the FOS principles often all interrelate can only be a good thing for this branch of the industry.