The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) planned post implementation review of the signposting rules in the travel insurance market has been pushed back.
Originally due by October 2022, the review will now be conducted next year when there will be “better evidence” at the regulator’s disposal.
Lifting the lid on the move, the FCA said: “We have taken the decision to delay the post implementation review of our travel signposting rules by a year and intend to conduct the review in the period April to October 2023.
“We consider the impact of COVID-19 on the travel insurance market, both in terms of level of market activity and the challenges separating the impact of our remedy from the impact of COVID-19, would undermine our ability to draw firm conclusions if we conducted the review this year. We expect that there will be better evidence available in 2023 to conduct the review.”
The signposting requirements – which mandated those who offer retail travel insurance to signpost consumers to at least one of the confirmed specialist directories – were introduced in April 2021 for the benefit of insurance buyers with more serious pre-existing medical conditions.
The two directories are BIBA’s (British Insurance Brokers’ Association) travel medical directory and the listing found on the Money & Pensions Service’s MoneyHelper website.
