UK regulator criticises insurers on handling of Covid-related claims

Some insurers have “fallen short” of meeting regulatory requirements when handling coronavirus-related business interruption claims, while others have not met them consistently, the UK’s financial watchdog has warned.

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday it would use “all regulatory tools” to rectify the “significant issues” it had encountered when analysing companies’ handling of such claims.

Business interruption claims have proved an area of significant controversy for insurers since the start of coronavirus lockdowns in March 2020.

Many insurers have challenged the extent of the losses that businesses claimed, leading to court cases aimed at resolving the extent of obligations.

The FCA brought a test case to seek clarity on the meaning of certain insurance wordings, which resulted in a Supreme Court judgment in January last year intended to speed up decisions on thousands of claims by small and medium-sized businesses. More cases remain to be handled.

Tuesday’s statement highlighted some cases where insurers had handled cases well, including making interim payments based on incomplete information and making an effort to issue statements to help policyholders.

However, the authority said some businesses lacked clear information to allow senior executives to identify the causes of hold-ups in payments.

Claims handlers sometimes lacked easy access to the wording of policies. The authority also criticised the communication from some companies with policyholders.

“We expect all regulated firms to conduct business in line with our rules and regulatory requirements,” the authority said. “It is evident from our work on BI claims handling that some firms have fallen short in meeting those requirements or have not met those requirements consistently.”

The authority added that it encouraged businesses to review their processes.