Planning your wedding is stressful at the best of times let alone during a pandemic. Would-be happy couples now face further anxiety as the safety net of wedding insurance is all but pulled from the market. Next year is likely to be one of the biggest years for weddings as couples postpone to […]
insurers
Insurers clinging to profits shamed as small firm offers second refund on medical cover
Insurers holding tight to profits from medical cover they could not provide during the coronavirus crisis have been put to shame, consumer advocates have said, after a small rival announced it was offering its second refund to affected policyholders. WPA, a not-for-profit insurer, is returning almost £4m to customers to make up […]
Car insurers must honour commuting claims during lockdown regardless of policy
Drivers forced into commuting by car during the lockdown do not need to notify their insurer or upgrade their motor insurance policy to include travelling to work, the industry trade body has said. The Association of British Insurers said a person who was unwilling or unable to use public transport because of the Covid-19 outbreak […]
Insurers and holiday firms top consumers’ list of complaints amid pandemic
The national complaints arbiter for financial firms has received a flood of complaints about insurers and travel companies, after consumers struggled to claim payouts and refunds for cancelled holidays and other events amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Financial Ombudsman Service received 271,468 complaints in 2019-20. The annual figures, published on […]
Watchdog prepares legal action against insurers over Covid payouts
The industry already expects to pay out £900m in business interruption claims, according to the Association of British Insurers, meaning losses could run to billions depending on the outcome of the test case being brought by the FCA. The FCA’s action was welcomed by business groups whose members are facing […]
Perverse insurers are asking their customers to go bust so they don’t have to
For an industry entirely based on understanding risk, insurers are certainly playing a risky game. They are fast becoming the villains of this crisis as they stubbornly refuse to pay out for cancelled holidays, closed businesses and abandoned weddings. But the salt in the wound, as our cover story reveals […]
Insurers under pressure to refund ‘worthless’ policies during pandemic
Pressure is mounting on reluctant insurers to refund customers for worthless policies, as travel cover has become unnecessary under the no-travel lockdown restrictions. Confidence in insurers has eroded after many companies denied liability for paying claims on cancelled holidays, or shirked responsibility by taking refuge in the grey areas of […]
Travel insurers must start giving us refunds for policies we will never be able to use
With summer holidays being cancelled and overseas travel looking increasingly unlikely for most of us in 2020, you might be one of the many people who have thought about cancelling their travel insurance. Unfortunately, unlike in almost all other parts of the general insurance market, most travel insurers don’t offer […]
Insurers warn cyber attacks could overwhelm sector
A state-sponsored cyber attack could cause economic damage on a scale equal to Covid-19, overwhelming the insurance industry and requiring the Government to step in to cover the losses, the chairman of Lloyd’s of London has warned. Bruce Carnegie-Brown said it would be a good idea for any government-backed programme […]
Insurers have become the villains of the Covid-19 crisis
As insurance prices fell over the course of almost two decades, so did standards of care in underwriting as insurers scrambled to compete to win business at all costs, insiders say. “The industry works in cycles,” says Catlin. “Broadly speaking, when you’re in a hard cycle [with prices increasing], contracts are […]