Cold-Calling Warnings Issued To Insurers

Cold-Calling Warnings Issued To Insurers

Monday 21st May 2007

The Financial Services Authority has issued warnings to insurers this month on the way in which they conduct cold sales calls. After studying 43 leading providers – The FSA concluded that there was a risk that customers could be treated unfairly during sales calls.

The FSA has been looking into cold-calling since September and Vernon Everitt of the FSA states that “Consumers were pressurised and the benefits of the product were sometimes exaggerated”. The FSA feels that customers may feel too pressured to accept an insurance policy from the seller and often that the nature and limitations of the policy were not always entirely clear.

The FSA also noted however that when customers rang insurers first to learn about policies salesmen had a good approach. The FSA has instructed insurance companies to improve they way they conduct cold sales calls and has said that firms are now taking action quickly to improve standards.