British regulator cracks down on home, travel insurers

LONDON, Dec ‌18 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog on Thursday laid out its efforts to raise ‍standards in ‌the home and travel insurance market after a consumer group made a rare "super-complaint" against ⁠the regulator, accusing it of letting ‌customers down.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it was investigating two insurers, had blocked a third from operating, and said three others were considering whether they owed customers compensation.

The regulator said it ⁠had also commissioned three independent reviews into firms' systems and controls, while three senior managers had agreed to ​fix problems and consider redress payments. It gave no ‌further details.

The move follows a September super-complaint ⁠from consumer group Which?, which accused the FCA of failing to protect customers and tolerating serious failings in the market. In response, the watchdog promised to ​accelerate efforts to improve standards.

After an in-depth review of home and travel insurance in July, the FCA said it would next year do more to improve claims handling and help customers better understand what their policies cover.

"We'll be monitoring consumer outcomes ​and will ‍continue to hold firms ​and their senior leaders to account for making improvements, to help build trust and make sure people get fair value insurance," said Graeme Reynolds, the FCA's director of competition and interim director of insurance.

Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, welcomed the FCA's pledge to tackle problems with customer service, claims handling, product sales and policy terms.

But ⁠she warned: "These issues have been allowed to fester for years, so the FCA must now seize the opportunity to take ​strong action to stamp out widespread bad practice and issues with how the markets are working."

Super-complaints give certain consumer groups legal powers to raise concerns on behalf of large numbers of customers that they believe have been ‌significantly harmed by market practices.

Hannah Gurga, director general of the ABI insurer industry group, said the industry was focused on driving further improvements.

(Reporting by Kirstin RidleyEditing by Mark Potter)