General insurance final Conduct of Business rules issued

Applications to conduct general insurance business from 14 January 2005, whether as an insurer or an intermediary, have been accepted by the FSA since 19 January this year. Sarah Wilson, Director of High Street Firms, advised businesses to “get cracking on their preparations for regulation.” The final conduct of business rules reflect several changes to the proposals in CP187: intermediaries will now have to provide only basic information about themselves to customers (“status disclosure”) if they act as introducers; they will have to give their name, address, statutory status, if they belong to the group to which the introduction is made and any charges that the customer will incur for their services. Firms will also be permitted to renew a contract without consent in advance from the retail customer if this provision features in the policy. Commercial customers will only need to be notified of renewal terms or that cover will not be extended “in good time” rather than according to a defined schedule.