But broker-related non-life fines crept up by 1.1%

The FCA and its predecessor handed out £12.6m of fines to companies and individuals operating in the non-life insurance industry and 2013.

This is down 25.7% on the £16.9m of non-life fines the FSA levied on non-life companies and individuals, including brokers, in 2012.

However, broker-related non-life fines crept up by 1.1% in 2013. Brokers accounted for all of the £12.6m of non-life fines in 2013, an increase on the £11.3m the FSA levied on brokers in 2012.

Biggest broker fines

The biggest broker fines in 2013 were Swinton’s £7.4m penalty for mis-selling add-ons, JLT Specialty’s £1.9m fine for failing to have appropriate bribery and corruption controls for overseas payments, and Policy Administration Services’ £2.8m penalty for poor complaints handling for mobile phone insurance policies sold by retailer Phones 4u.

Three individual brokers were also fined in 2013.

The biggest broker fine in 2012 was Card Protection Plan’s £10.5m penalty for mis-selling insurance. The remainder of 2012’s broker fines were levied on individuals.

Insurers’ contribution

The 2012 overall non-life figure was boosted by two large insurer fines. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (Europe) incurred a £3.3m penalty for “serious corporate governance failings”, while UK Insurance, the main underwriting division of Direct Line Group, was fined £2.2m after Direct Line Insurance and Churchill Insurance altered customer complaint files before passing them to the regulator.

Life effects

If life insurers are included, the 2013 insurance fine total jumps to £42.6m. This is 142.8% up on 2012’s total of £17.5m.

The increase was caused by the £30m of fines levied on Prudential over its failed takeover of American International Assurance. The FSA fined Prudential £14m for breaching listing rules and its subsidiary The Prudential Assurance Company £16m for “failing to deal with the FSA in an open and co-operative manner”.

By contrast, there was only one life insurance fine of £600,000 in 2012, levied on Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada for “with-profits governance failings”.

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