Report by Jane Archer
TRAVEL Agents are facing a bill of £2 million a year after
the Office of Fair Trading ruled retailers that sell travel insurance must
become members of the General Insurance Standards Council.
The OFT ruling allows the GISC, a self regulatory body set
up by the insurance industry last year, to forbid members to trade with
non-members. As almost every insurer is a member, that means all companies that
sell insurance to the public have to join.
The ruling includes travel agents, although as insurance is
not their core product, they could become sub-agents of a member, provided that
member accepts liability for them and provides the GISC a fee.
ABTA has one month to appeal against the decision and head
of legal services Riccardo Nardi said he was disappointed with the ruling.