Which? response to Financial Conduct Authority study on general insurance add-ons market

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said:

“It’s good to see the Financial Conduct Authority cracking down on poor value insurance add-ons, and helping to prevent consumers being misled or caught out by signing up for products that they don’t need.

“We want greater price transparency across the insurance market, including a requirement on providers to put last year’s premium on renewal notices, so that consumers can find the best deal for them.”

Notes to editors

GAP insurance: In February 2012 we found that buying Guaranteed Asset Protection insurance from a car dealer could cost as much as four times as much as buying it from a third party insurer. We also found differing levels of excess, and one insurer applying an upper monetary limit to cover.

Travel insurance: In July 2013 Which? Travel investigation found a number of travel companies pre-selecting travel insurance as an ‘optional’ extra. In an older investigation from June 2010, we also identified mis-selling of travel insurance by travel agents.

Home emergency cover: In September 2012 we highlighted a large number of issues with home emergency policies. Of the four in 10 Which? members with this cover who had a made a claim, 30% experienced problems. Customers with cover as an optional extra on their home insurance were more likely to experience issues.

Extended Warranties: In September 2013 Which? published our results of mystery shopping investigating how some of the UK’s biggest high street stores sell extended warranties. Our investigation found: some of the information and advice given by sales staff was exaggerated, confusing and plain wrong in some cases. Currys/PC World tried to sell our shoppers a warranty on 11 out of 12 occasions with some staff saying that it covered ‘everything’ and one employee incorrectly claiming it would even cover pulling the door off your washing machine at a party. It doesn’t cover weather and water damage and problems due to ‘neglect and misuse’.

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