FSA fines Hastings £750,000 for cancelling policies
Hastings Insurance Services has been fined £735,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
The broker has been found guilty of failing to treat its customers fairly, after it cancelled around 4,550 car insurance policies.
The misdemeanor occurred between July and September of last year, when on more than one occasion, Hastings discovered that its IT system had produced inaccurate quotations.
Some motorists obtained cover for premiums that were below the market rate and Hastings decided to cancel the policies.
While the policies in question contained a cancellation clause, the FSA ruled that it was not generally acceptable to use it in circumstances such as a quotation error.
In addition, the regulator found that Hastings had failed to investigate other possible remedies, being focused on its own financial losses in the matter.
According to the FSA’s Director of Enforcement, Margaret Cole, Hastings had put its own interests ahead of those of its customers.
The broker is owned by Australian insurer, IAG, having been acquired in 2006.
The group is in the process of reviewing its UK business which also includes Equity Insurance and Equity Red Star, and Hastings is tipped for a sale.
Category: Car Insurance News, Companies News, Financial Services Authority News, Insurance News
Comments (1)
Visited 2953 times, 1 so far today
The Hastings fine was well and truly deserved. The failings reported in the press only scratch the surface of a catalogue of shockers uncovered by the FSA – see my blog post at http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/blog/2008/07/hastings-lose-battle-with-fsa.html