Insurance experts and bosses to face questions from MPs as car insurance premiums surge
Consumer experts, insurance industry bosses and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) appear in front of the Treasury Committee on as MPs probe what steps the industry is taking to keep insurance cover affordable.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) data shows that taken together across all categories of insurance, insurance prices have risen by 17% a year. In particular, car insurance inflation reached a high of 50% in the past year. Insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service have also increased in the last year, with car and motorcycle insurance complaints up 50% and building insurance complaints up 30%.
Meeting details
For the first panel, MPs question Citizen’s Advice and Which? on the views of customers. The Committee is likely to investigate why there have been such big rises in insurance premiums and consumer dissatisfaction. They may also discuss the FCA’s new consumer duty, a set of rules to raise the standards of how financial firms treat consumers, and possible solutions to these higher insurance costs.
During the second panel, the Committee hears from the CEO of Allianz UK, which among others operate under the LV and Pet Plan brands in the UK, and the Association of British Insurers. Questions could explore why car insurance quotes continue to experience high inflation, the process of car valuations and write offs, and how firms have changed their behavior since the FCA’s Consumer Duty was brought in.
In the final panel, MPs probe the FCA on the impact of its consumer duty and their concerns about how consumers are treated in the insurance market and the continued high inflation within car insurance quotes.