§ Mr. Whitakerasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will introduce legislation to require insurance companies to have a certain minimum amount of ascertained free assets.
§ Mr. JayThe Insurance Companies Act, 1958, contains such requirements in relation to companies which carry on general insurance business, including motor vehicle insurance business. The Companies Bill contains provisions designed to strengthen these requirements.
§ Mr. Whitakerasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied he has sufficient powers to ascertain the adequacy of insurance and other companies' free assets; and which insurance companies at present have inadequate assets in comparison with their liabilities.
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§ Mr. JayNo. The Companies Bill contains provisions to improve the Board of Trade's powers. I cannot properly comment on the second part of the Question.
Mr. Homerasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he will take to enable motorists to insure against motoring risks only with reliable insurance companies.
§ Mr. JayThe Companies Bill now before Parliament contains provisions to strengthen greatly the supervisory powers of the Board of Trade over insurance companies. It would be unfortunate if recent failures give rise to any impression that the great majority of insurers operating in this country are not completely reliable. But I advise anyone who is offered insurance at what appears to be a cheap premium to seek advice from, for instance, such bodies as the British Insurance Association, Lloyd's, the Corporation of Insurance Brokers, the Association of Insurance Brokers or Lloyd's Insurance Brokers Association.