PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Insurance: Travellers (7 May 2024)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) insurance sector, (b) Financial Conduct Authority, (c) Financial Ombudsman and (d) Equality and Human Rights Commission on the ability of people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (i) buildings and (ii) contents insurance.

Asked by:
Caroline Nokes (Conservative)

Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory rules.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s rules require insurers to treat their customers fairly and the FCA has robust powers to act against firms that do not comply. The UK Government is also committed to tackling discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 providers legal protections from discrimination due to protected characteristics. This means insurers cannot use ethnicity as a risk factor when determining the price of insurance.

Customers who feel they have not been treated fairly by their insurer are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent body established to provide arbitration in such cases.

Answered by:
Bim Afolami (Conservative)
13 May 2024