ABTA has claimed a small victory against the General Insurance
Standards Council, which has been forced to delay the deadline for agents to
sign up as members.
The move comes after a further appeal against the Office of
Fair Trading’s decision to approve the imposition of Rule F42, which forces any
agent who wants to sell insurance to become a GISC member.
The Competition Commission, which is hearing the appeal,
said a decision would not be made until the end of the month, which will not
leave enough time for members to sign up.
The GISC originally set a deadline of October 15 to start
F42 transitional arrangements and December 31 for full implementation.
ABTA head of legal services Riccardo Nardi welcomed the
news. “It’s pleasing that ABTA has helped to put this off,” he said.
Even if the appeal is rejected, the GISC will still have to
spend months consulting members, associations and the Government on
transitional rules and the timetable for their introduction, he added.