01 April 2009

Over 25% of travel companies still don't meet FSA rules

More than 25% of travel companies are still not compliant with the rules from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for selling travel insurance, according to World First Travel Insurance.

The company said its review of 400 travel sites advertising, arranging or selling travel insurance found some even acted illegally.

The three most common mistakes made are:

Appointed Representatives (AR) are omitting to display their status and the insurer from whom they act

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

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," said managing partner Martin Rothwell.

"Agents seem to be overlooking key paperwork and website updates. Many agents have simply not updated their terms and conditions since December 2008 or removed old ‘out of date’ pages from the Google index.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, offering commissions of up to 30%.

By Bev Fearis