On 24 July 2020 we published draft guidance to extend measures for insurance and premium finance firms on the fair treatment of customers in temporary financial difficulty as a result of coronavirus. This document summarises the feedback we received on our proposed measures and our response.
Our original measures came into force on 18 May 2020, and we committed to reviewing them within 3 months and revising them if appropriate.
We wanted to act quickly to protect consumers in these difficult times. The draft guidance was therefore subject to a short consultation period, which closed on 28 July. We received responses from interested stakeholders, including firms, trade bodies and consumer groups.
Stakeholders expressed support for our measures and we have therefore finalised our updated guidance which will extend help to customers who are in temporary financial difficulty because of coronavirus.
Who this affects
The guidance and rules affect a range of firms including:
- insurers
- insurance intermediaries (including appointed representatives)
- premium finance lenders that provide credit to fund the payment of insurance premiums in instalments
- premium finance brokers that carry on regulated activities relating to credit granted for the purposes of financing insurance premiums in instalments
- debt collectors
- other firms that may be involved in insurance arrangements and/or in relation to the provision of premium finance
Next steps
The guidance and rules come into effect on Tuesday 11 August and will remain in place for a further 3 months, until 31 October 2020. Over the coming weeks we will keep this guidance under review and work with firms, consumer groups, debt advice providers and the government to consider what other forms of support may be needed.