The Co-operative Travel Trading Group has called for a common code of practice governing the sale of travel insurance to avoid agents being regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
The FSA deadline for its travel insurance consultation is this Thursday (22 Feb) and the CTTG has called for a code of conduct as a “sensible alternative” to FSA regulation.
CTTG chief operating officer Mike Greenacre is opposed to the FSA regulating the industry’s sale of travel insurance. He said the CTTG has a 0.5% complaint ratio on 500,000 travel insurance policies sold every year.
Greenacre added the cost of regulation would have a heavy impact on margins, forcing agents to increase prices.
“CTTG members have 40 years’ experience of selling travel insurance without regulatory control,” Greenacre said.
Instead he called for an agreed sales process which takes the customer through a set of decisions based on eligibility, policy benefits and exclusions, with ABTA overseeing a code of practice modelled on Association of British Insurers good practice guidelines.
Thomas Cook has already pulled out the industry scheme in favour of FSA regulation, while Advantage is also offering its members the opportunity to selling insurance governed by the FSA.