Upping FOS compensation could ruin small brokers

Financial Services Authority building

The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) proposal to increase the maximum level of Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) compensation to £150,000 may force small brokers out of business, legal experts have warned.

The original limit of £100,000 was set by the Insurance Ombudsman Scheme in 1981 and was adopted by the FOS when it was set up in December 2001.

Jonathan Davies, partner at RPC, commented: "Increasing the ombudsman's maximum penalty by this level would put many IFAs and brokers at risk of closure."

The FSA requires firms to hold professional indemnity (PI) insurance including cover for Ombudsman's awards. Mr Davies said if firms were unable to obtain cover from reluctant PI insurers, they would

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk.

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Insurance Age? View our subscription options

Register

Sign up and gain access to five complimentary news articles every month.

Already have an account? Sign in here

This address will be used to create your account

Most read articles loading...

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have an Insurance Age account, please register now.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an indvidual account here: