§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is reviewing the 1977 statement of insurance practice.
§ Mr. EyreAt the request of the Government, British insurers have recently completed a review of the practices set out in the statements of practice adopted in 1977. It was found that in general they had been closely followed. The insurers have decided to confirm two further points in the statements. These relate to the clarity of insurance documents and the prompt payment of claims when they have been accepted and, in the appropriate cases, where the title has been established. Although insurers continue to receive complaints from policyholders, the insurance associations and Lloyd's emphasise that the number is small in relation to the millions of policies in operation. A further review of the statements may be appropriate in due course.
342WThe codification of good practice in the statements is a useful means of protecting the private consumer and I accordingly welcome the additions. I also welcome the important new safeguard for some policyholders provided by the insurance ombudsman bureau, set up by a number of insurance companies earlier this year, and the more recent personal insurance arbitration service to which a number of other insurance companies subscribe. I hope, however, that the advantages to the consumer of an industry-wide complaints procedure will be considered by the industry in the light of the experience of the working of the new schemes.
Copies of the revised texts of the statements are placed in the Library.