Summer's never quiet

Well we are deep in the heart of the summer months and, while the insurance industry is rather quiet in terms of providers and intermediaries, many official bodies have seen fit, perhaps cynically, to use the last month to release research results and to moot plans.

The Government's green paper on long term care is a classic example. It could literally force millions of people in this country to buy insurance for their own long term care. While the details are by no means clear (See Planet Insurance on page 10 for extra insight) what is obvious is that the Government is being forced by the sheer pressure of numbers and rising cost of care into some kind of cost sharing arrangement.

Naturally the Tories are calling foul and saying they will draw up their own plans. But even if the Government changes the pressures will remain the same and it is likely the Tories would be forced to a similar conclusion.

What is amazing is that this has not cropped up on the mainstream press' radar yet. Jordan's shenanigans are far more news worthy for the moment, yet it is set to become a major expense within everyone's lifestyle.

The FSA has also announced a series of changes to its rules for approved persons (see page 5). This is certainly for the best as to date there have been controlling parties to firms that have held no regulatory responsibility. This whole area has been crying out for a clean up for years and the FSA's clarity is to be welcomed.

Within the industry the ABI has said that it intends to do away with Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) from critical illness policies, replacing it with a series of clearly defined definitions (see page 5). This has to be a good thing as currently the industry pay out rate on TPD is only 55%, and no industry can disappoint people on that scale with impunity for long.

Lastly, the debate over adviser's qualifications when it comes to selling protection and health insurance continues to rage on. Munich Re's Andy Milburn makes a very interesting offer in this month's comment (page 12), while Avivas Protection marketing director, Richard Verdin, calls for a major overhaul on page. This months poll is on the subject and Cover would love to hear your views. (http://www.ifaonline.co.uk/cover)

Readers visiting the site will notice that it has changed. Cover has been linked in, purely in internet terms, to its sister site IFA Online. This gives the reader access to not only Cover but all insurance and other industry related news throughout the IFA Online Site. Hopefully you will appreciate the ability to get all your industry news and opinions from the one place, you can even customise the type of news sent to you.

So, you see, summer or not, it's never quiet in the insurance game!