§ 20. Mr. Raphael Tuckasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will initiate legislation requiring all vehicle drivers to insure against third party risks with an insurance company recognised by the British Insurance Association and prohibiting insurance brokers from effecting such insurance for any person except with an insurance company so recognised.
§ Mr. DarlingNo, Sir.
§ Mr. TuckAs half a million people have found themselves without cover during the past five years because of the failure of the insurance company concerned, and as my right hon. Friend has assured me that he will consider any proposal in the public interest, would he do something about this and consider doing in the public interest what Saskatchewan did with success 20 years ago, namely, take the insurance companies into public ownership?
§ Mr. DarlingI understand the motive behind my hon. Friend's proposal, but there are several perfectly sound reputable companies undertaking motor insurance that are not members of the British Insurance Association. We think that it would be quite wrong to prohibit their activities. In any case, we believe that the new proposals for strengthening Board of Trade supervision over insurance companies in the Companies Bill will achieve the purpose which my hon. Friend has in mind.
Mr. Gresham CookeWould not the simplest way be to put down an Amendment to the Companies Bill requiring that the starting date for insurance companies should be £100,000 and not £50,000?
§ Mr. DarlingThat is another question. It is far more important to make sure that the solvency ratio is correct.
§ 32. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will now take steps to make car insurance a public responsibility, providing machinery so that cars have to be insured automatically at the same time and in the same office as they are taxed.
§ Mr. DarlingNo, Sir. The Companies Bill contains provisions to improve the supervisory powers of the Board of Trade over motor vehicle and other classes of insurance.
§ Mr. RobertsWould not the Minister agree that the essence of good insurance is simplicity in buying the security, and that this proposal maximises security while at the same time removing some of the present duplication between taxation carried out by local authority staff and insurance by private companies. Does he realise—[HON. MEMBERS: "Too long."]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. We cannot have speeches at Question Time.
§ Mr. RobertsDoes my right hon. Friend realise that a simple disc would show that they were both taxed and insured?
§ Mr. DarlingI am quite confident that there is great value in simplicity, but the great need of insurance is to provide adequate cover for the risks involved.
§ Sir J. Vaughan-MorganHas the right hon. Gentleman given any consideration to another suggestion put forward by the B.I.A. that this type of insurance should be undertaken only by companies which have been operating for a certain number of years and have proved their worth?
§ Mr. DarlingYes. We have given a great deal of consideration to that proposal, and to some extent it is covered by the new provisions in the Companies Bill.
§ Mr. Raphael TuckWould not my right hon. Friend think it in the public interest that motorists should be compelled to display their insurance cover on their windscreen just as they display their road fund licence?
§ Mr. DarlingThat is something which might well be considered, but it is not in this Question.
§ Mr. Maxwell-HyslopWill the right hon. Gentleman resist any temptation to have bad insurance risks carried either by the taxpayer or by fellow motorists rather than by the individual risk himself?
§ Mr. DarlingThat is what I had in mind when I said that the important thing was to make sure that there was adequate cover for the risks.