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World First Travel Insurance has chosen the 1 April to let travel businesses know that selling travel insurance “is no joke”. Despite the introduction of new regulations on 1 January, more than 25% of travel companies are still not compliant with the rules from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for selling travel insurance. World First also provides a travel insurance ‘punch line’ with its ‘Trade Routes’ solution, which has been created to help agents continue to sell commissionable insurance within the regulations.
World First reviewed 400 travel sites advertising, arranging or selling travel insurance[2], measuring them against the FSA’s regulations. It discovered that more than 25% of sites are falling short in several areas, and in some cases acting illegally. The three most common mistakes made are:
1. Appointed Representatives (AR) are omitting to display their status and the insurer from whom they act
2. Non-AR registered operators are continuing to state that insurance can be arranged and are including details of cover and premiums, in direct contravention of FSA guidelines
3. Non-regulated travel businesses are continuing to advertise travel insurance, ‘recommending’ or ‘advising’ specific insurers, which is also a breech of FSA regulations.
“It has been three months since the new regulations came into place, and still over a quarter of businesses are falling foul of them,” comments Martin Rothwell, Managing Partner of World First Travel Insurance. “Agents seem to be overlooking key paperwork and website updates (many agents have simply not updated their terms and conditions since December 08 or removed old “out of date” pages from the Google index). They need to realise that if they don’t make the changes they are in contravention of FSA rules and this could have real consequences.
“Agents and domestic operators must review the content of their websites urgently and take remedial action to amend their travel insurance wordings, including wording on their booking forms.”
World First has a white label ‘Trade Routes’ solution for travel businesses (see editor’s notes). It is suitable for those agents who don’t want to worry about dealing directly with the FSA but would like to sell travel insurance and claim commissions up to 30% and also for ARs who don’t have an online offer as yet, and would like a quick and easy way to do so.
“Our solution is not designed to replace direct, FSA regulated, sales of travel insurance by travel agents. However, we do offer a solution for the many businesses out there who want to sell insurance without the hassle of the regulations, as well as the opportunity to offer online insurance in the agents own brand to people who may just be passing.”
World First has created an ‘FSA Made Easy Guide’ for those operators who are still unsure of their options and what the new regulations mean to them. The guide is available as a download from the World First site.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
