The FOS's call to action

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) chief executive Natalie Ceeney delivered a stern warning to the insurance industry at this year’s Labour party conference.

Her message was clear: insurers, along with other financial services firms, have to buck up their ideas and start regaining consumer trust.

She said businesses need to deliver what they promise, and make their services less complicated to consumers.

It’s no surprise that Ceeney is firing off these warning shots at a time when consumer confidence is low.

The Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal dealt a massive blow to the image of the sector, resulting in a record number of complaints and the UK’s five leading banks setting aside £9bn to compensate customers for mis-sold PPI.

Ceeney also called on firms to take complaints more seriously. This came just weeks after the FOS’s most recent complaints data revealed that UK Insurance Ltd, better known as Direct Line Group (DLG), was the worst offender with 1,541 complaints - excluding PPI - for the first six months to 30 June 2012. AXA racked up 557 new general insurance complaints; Aviva was dealt 435, and RSA 412.

CMCs under fire

Ceeney also highlighted the thorny issue of claims management companies (CMCs) and insisted the sector needed to be better regulated. She called for a ban on cold calling and CMCs charging upfront fees.

Her thoughts will be supported by the industry, which has heavily criticised CMCs for inflating claims costs.

The Ministry of Justice, which has regulated CMCs since 2007, recently handed responsibility for handling complaints about CMCs to the legal ombudsman.