§ Ms LawrenceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the consultation document on pre-payments for funerals is to be published. [66317]
§ Ms HewittThe consultation document entitled "Regulation of Pre-paid Funeral Plans" is published today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
In my announcement of 29 July 1998, Official Report, column 300, I said that the Government would be looking at ways of excluding from direct regulation under the Financial Services and Markets Bill pre-paid funeral arrangements that offer sufficient protection to consumers. The consultation document explores how to meet that objective without the need for regulation by the Financial Services Authority. It discusses two possible exemptions: plans backed by a life insurance policy (either whole of life or investment-backed); and where a provider has set up a trust arrangement which has sufficient safeguards.
The proposals apply to new plans, but the document asks for views on how existing plans could be enhanced to provide the types of safeguard set out in the document.
284W
Progress by pensions firms in resolving cases of personal pensions mis-selling in the period to the end of December 1998 A B C D E F G H 50–75 per cent. of cases resolved Countrywide 5,476 2,987 717 249 468 353 6 66 Over 75 per cent. of cases resolved DBS 2,475 953 1,138 269 869 726 29 79 IFA Network 368 134 166 99 67 62 17 80 Burns Anderson 1,298 440 760 275 485 426 33 88 Financial Options 573 407 121 35 86 75 13 90 Sedgwick 17,225 10,037 6,025 1,976 4,049 3,742 22 91 Windsor Life 9,711 4,245 5,331 333 4,998 4,393 45 92 Sun Life of Canada 29,146 11,454 17,043 2,935 14,108 12,586 43 93 Colonial 8,734 3,192 5,395 625 4,770 4,306 49 93 Lincoln National 13,604 2,258 11,106 1,419 9,687 9,066 67 94 Standard Life 7,571 923 6,396 1,327 5,069 4,887 65 94 Hill Samuel 6,118 943 5,043 719 4,324 4,153 68 95 Abbey Life 18,132 6,759 10,825 1,398 9,427 9,112 50 95 Pearl 48,500 4,855 42,860 5,838 37,022 35,590 73 95 CIS 44,681 8,060 36,606 13,984 22,622 20,622 46 95 Friends Provident 7,152 1,362 5,643 847 4,796 4,632 65 96 London and Manchester 8,641 1,619 6,992 703 6,289 6,069 70 97 Berkeley Independent 185 122 63 36 27 22 12 97 Equitable Life 7,628 1,972 5,591 1,831 3,760 3,620 47 97 Hogg Robinson 2,338 871 1,467 487 980 934 40 98 Legal & General 37,355 15,301 21,869 2,075 19,794 19,256 52 98 A: cases identified as requiring review B: of A, cases where investor was informed that information gained during assessment excluded cases from review C: number of assessments completed D: cases where the investor has been informed that no redress is due E: cases where redress has been offered F: cases where redress has been accepted G: cases where redress has been accepted as a percentage of cases identified for review ((F/A)x100) H: cases completed, including exclusions, as a percentage of cases identified for review (((B+D+F)/A)x100) Responses should be sent by 30 April to Mrs. Raminder Sandhu, Financial Services Team, HM Treasury, Room 111/G, Parliament Street, London SW1P 3AG.