BADLY trained agents are pushing clients towards direct-sell companies to buy their travel insurance, ABTA’s former head of legal services Alan Bowen told the conference.
He said the Monopolies and Mergers Commission’s decision to stop agents linking discounts to insurance had made the public think the agent might not be the best place to buy a policy and that anywhere else is better.
And he claimed that the shift to direct-sell was fuelled by agents knowing nothing about travel insurance. “There are too many youngsters behind the counter who see it simply as a way to make extra commission,” said Bowen, now a managing partner of travel insurance consultancy AGB Associates.
“In many agencies the [Association of British Insurers] code of practice is ignored as frequently as it is given. Clients are just asked if they want insurance and handed a credit-card slip to sign. That is not good enough.”
Bowen said managers failed to train their staff to be experts, but also blamed policies that are badly written for the lack of knowledge.
“There are too many cases where agents are incompetent. Sometimes it is their fault, but often it is because they do not understand what they are selling,” he said.
“Agents want an easy life and making the policy simple by writing in plain English means it will be sold.”
Bowen said he was not convinced that agents would meet the standards required to be registered by the new General Insurance Standards Council. This comes into force in 2000 and will require everyone who sells insurance to show competence in selling before being licensed.
Bowen added: “I urge insurers and agents to work together to tell consumers that the travel agent is the best place to buy insurance, and that it will matched to the customer’s needs and sold at a reasonable price.”