The vast majority of commercial property agencies believe they were not properly consulted by the FSA, revealed a survey from law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC).
It found that 96% of commercial property agencies said they had not been properly consulted on the introduction of regulation.
RPC's Harriet Quiney said the realisation that the need for FSA regulation applied to chartered surveyors who advised their clients on property insurance had come as a “bolt out of the blue” to many firms.
The survey also revealed that 92% of respondents believed they needed to gain FSA authorisation, but that only 28% of those firms had done so.
“These firms have been left with very little time to make their preparations for the new regime,” said Quiney.
“Bearing this in mind the FSA needs to reassure property agents that they will take a light touch on policing the regulations until the industry has had a chance to absorb the changes. The FSA needs to avoid the temptation to pick up firms on technical but insubstantial breaches of its regulations.”
The survey also found that the introduction of regulation had led 44% of those firms surveyed to reconsider their work involving insurance.
“Arranging property insurance is one of the most important things property managing agents do. Expertise in property insurance is an integral part of their service.
“Most firms think they cannot avoid providing this service to their clients but they are looking to reduce the regulatory burden by limiting the number of clients they provide this service to or by putting their insurance activities into standalone legal entities.”
