ABI demand to ban referral fees may prove to be futile

The Association of British Insurers may have wasted energy in its attempts to ban referral fees as new legislation on the horizon could see these fees “self regulate” without the need for any kind of mandate.

The issue was top of the agenda at this month’s Power hour (Legally speaking, p33), where attendees suggested that Lord Justice Jackson’s (pictured above) Review of Civil Litigation and The Bribery Act 2010 could both force a change in the way in which referral fees are sourced.

For instance, group underwriting manager at DAS Phil Bellamy questioned whether the government was stalling on its decision regarding referral fees in the hope that the market would correct itself.

If Jackson’s proposals