The Treasury’s decision to regulate the sale of travel insurance by travel agents appears to have been justified if research from Sainsbury’s Bank is anything to go by.

The survey found that in the past 12 months up to 3.56 million people have fallen victim to dubious sales practices when purchasing insurance from travel agents.

It also found that many travel agents were not following basic procedures to ensure that the travel insurance policies they sell are appropriate to their customers’ needs.

One finding caught Backchat’s eye – 9% claimed they had been wrongly advised that they could only secure their holiday if they also bought their travel insurance there and then.

The FSA will have some fun regulating the sector.