The FCA has launched a consultation on its draft guidance on how insureds can prove the presence of Covid-19 in a particular area around their premises in the context of a BI claim. The consultation closes on 18 January, and the draft guidance can be found here.
The FCA says its intention in publishing the guidance is to help make the process of providing proof of Covid-19 as clear and simple as possible for policyholders.
This in turn should enable claimants to receive payments as quickly as possible if the Supreme Court upholds the High Court’s earlier decision that pandemic cover should apply under certain BI policies.
Chapter 3 of the draft guidance on pages 9 and 10 of the PDF linked to above focus on insurers and insurance intermediaries and outlines firms’ obligations in relation to the following aspects of the FCA’s rules:
- the FCA Principles for Businesses (PRIN), in particular Principles 6 and 7
- the Insurance Conduct of Business sourcebook (ICOBS), in particular ICOBS 2.2.2R, ICOBS 2.5.-1R and ICOBS 8.1
- the Dispute Resolution: Complaints sourcebook (DISP), in particular DISP 1.4 and DISP 1.
The draft guidance makes clear that insurance intermediaries assisting policyholders with claims should have regard to the guidance provided to policyholders in chapters 4 to 9 (pages 11-23) and should act so as to streamline and expedite claims handling for their clients.
Insurance intermediaries are encouraged to consider publishing records of the Relevant Policy Areas in which clients have already proved cases of Covid-19 on their websites to help other clients making claims.
If you wish to respond to the consultation you can do so by emailing your response to this email address before the consultation closes on 18 January.
If you would like to know more about this or any other aspect of FCA compliance, you can contact a member of our expert team on 01925 765777, or email us at info@ukgigroup.com.