Consultation closed
05/06/2020
This finalised guidance sets out our expectations for insurers and insurance intermediaries when handling claims and complaints for business interruption policies during the test case brought by the FCA.
Read FS20/8: Business interruption insurance test case: feedback on draft guidance
On June 1, we published a short consultation on draft guidance. We are now finalising that guidance.
We want to highlight steps that we consider firms should be taking to:
This guidance should be read with the following key documents from the test case: the particulars of claim, representative sample of wording, questions for determination and issues matrix.
This guidance applies to:
The guidance comes into immediate effect upon being published on Wednesday 17 June 2020.
We expect the insurers covered by the finalised guidance to review their relevant non-damage business interruption policies to classify them as set out and to report the outcomes of these reviews to us by Wednesday 8 July. This will enable us to publish a list of relevant non-damage business interruption policies affected by the test case.
We also expect firms to consider what general communications they need to make to their non-damage business interruption policyholders. Firms should also consider what communications they need to make to individual policyholders, by 15 July, who have made a claim or complaint in the light of the guidance and the review of relevant non-damage business interruption policies.
We expect relevant firms to identify claims and complaints (included those already declined or where the firm has made an adjustment or deduction for general causation) that are potentially affected by the test case and to take account of this guidance when handling these claims and complaints.
We will review the guidance in light of the progress of the test case and in any event within 6 months of it coming into effect to assess whether it is still needed.