Ed Balls launches travel insurance review call for evidence

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Ed Balls, launched the Travel Insurance Review public call for evidence and highlighted the need for travel insurers to be clear and transparent about consumers' cover in the event of a terrorist incident.

The call for evidence published today follows the launch of the Review of Travel Insurance in August this year which highlighted the different regulatory approach taken with the selling of travel insurance sold alongside a holiday and standalone travel insurance.

In recent years there have been growing concerns from consumer groups and sections of the industry that this difference causes consumer detriment, raising questions about whether regulation, appropriate redress and complaints mechanisms should apply to travel insurance sold alongside a holiday.

Ed Balls said: "In recent years there have been growing concerns from consumer groups and sections of the industry that the market is not working as well as it could, raising questions about whether regulation and appropriate redress should apply to the selling of travel insurance.

We therefore need to get to the bottom of whether travel insurance sold with a holiday is being mis-sold, and whether we need to be doing more to educate consumers to consider the cover they want and ensure that they are properly informed."

The review will investigate whether travel insurance sold with a holiday is being mis-sold and the consultation launched today sets out options to improve the selling of insurance provided by travel agents. These options include strengthened self-regulation by the travel insurance industry and the possibility of full regulation by the Financial Services Authority.