Throwback Thursday: Insurer complains about red tape
Insurance Post’s Throwback Thursday steps back in time to April 1976 to remind you what was going on this week in insurance history, when an insurer’s chairman called the government’s approach into question.
1 April 1976: Mutual criticises government
Fifty years ago, WR Ballantyne, then chairman of Scottish Mutual, questioned the relevance of government legislation at a time of recession.
He said: “It is remarkable that after a century or so of state education it becomes necessary to protect the consumer at his own and his fellows’ expense from naïveté.”
Ballantyne argued rather than stretching the resources of insurers with the weight of “consumerist” red tape, the government’s efforts should be focussed on improving the country’s economic situation.
What would he have thought of Which?’s super-complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority, accusing the regulator of failing to tackle persistent problems in the home and travel insurance markets?
I doubt he would have been impressed by the complaint or the regulator accepting there are clear weaknesses in the market that require further regulatory action.
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