The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has clarified its aims on how it will tackle consumer detriment following reports of an investigation into historic life policies.
It was revealed the FCA is to investigate about 30 million insurance company policies over concerns that customers are subject to "unfair" conditions.
The investigation will include pensions, endowments, investment bonds and life insurance policies sold in the UK between the 1970s and 2000, the BBC had said.
In a statement the FCA said: "These accounts have been closed for many years in some cases, but there are still valid issues to be looked at around the question of the service that consumers receive in relation to those accounts. Are they getting the right information? Are they getting the right level of service? Are these investments still appropriate?
"We will be reviewing a representative sample of firms who we expect to look at whether they are treating their customers fairly."
The FCA added: "We are not planning to individually review 30million policies, nor do we intend to look at removing exit fees from those policies providing they were compliant at the time. This is not a review of the sales practices for these legacy customers and we are not looking at applying current standards retrospectively - for example on exit charges."
The regulator explained its review will begin in the summer and it will be speaking to firms on how to undertake it.
