BLM partner Elizabeth Whittingham has spoken to Insurance Insider about the reforms to the UK Financial Ombudsman Service’s compensation regime.
This week the FOS compensation limit rose to £350,000 for complaints about actions by firms on or after 1 April. According to Insider, the increase could swiftly erode deductibles on existing professional indemnity cover and is likely to lift rates as well as potentially crimp capacity. But the reforms also look set to increase pay-outs in other lines too.
Elizabeth said: “We are looking at substantially larger organisations that will increase the pool a great deal. These businesses are going to be far more alive to what they can claim than the consumer will be…”
Elizabeth goes on to advise insurers to establish dedicated complaints access points and to step up training so that those complaints that are “likely to be expensive and problematic are escalated earlier rather than later.”
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