FSA fires off second and stronger warning over add-ons

The FSA has announced it will stop the sale of some add-on insurance products and crack down against the firms that sell them.

In the FSA’s business plan for 2012/13 (download right), the regulator said it is concerned about add-on products that do not offer value and which are hard to claim on. The FSA also warned against firms with “deficiencies in sales practices” selling add-ons.

The regulator did not say which add-ons it would focus on, but singled out products which “replicate other existing rights or free services.”

In the business plan, the FSA said: “We are committed in 2012/13 to identify these sales and stop them plus deliver redress where appropriate. We will take action against firms that sell products of poor value and mis-sell the products to their customers.”

The regulator first announced a worry about add-ons in a document published earlier this month.

In other insurance issues, the business plan said that the regulator will be working on Solvency II implementation, the Insurance Mediation Directive and referral fees in the 2012/13 year.