Critics who snipe that the Association of British Insurers is now run by civil servants should put up or shut up, says its director general Mary Francis.
Critics who snipe that the Association of British Insurers is now run by civil servants should put up or shut up, says its director general Mary Francis.
Speaking after her first year in office, she said having civil servants in charge (she was at the Treasury, No 10 and Buckingham Palace and her deputy, Dr Anthony Sklaroff, was head of communications at the DTI under Peter Mandelson) was a good idea.
"I make no apology for that. We need the skills to get the message across to government," she said.
Francis claimed the industry had successfully put across the damage higher personal injury awards could have done.
She claimed insurers too would need to have political lobbying and public relations skills represented at board level if they were to succeed.
And she said the GISC would have to have its ear to the ground and would need to be ready to adapt and change if consumers or the market demanded it.