Banks could be forced to insure customers against bad debts under a new European Commission (EC) proposal.

A discussion document, intended to update the EC directive on consumer credit, suggests lenders take out “compulsory and comprehensive” insurance against the risk of default.

The advantages are:

  • each consumer could be insured against certain events of life
  • the lender's risk would be smaller and
  • the costs minimised because the insurance contract would be negotiated by the lender and the risk distributed across the portfolio.

    Insurers, however, are lukewarm about the proposal, with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) claiming that customers who do not take want the insurance cover will end up subsidising the others.

    • The 2025 Insurance Times Awards took place on the evening of Wednesday 3rd December in the iconic Great Room of London’s Grosvenor House.

    Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
    Many congratulations to all the worthy winners and as always, huge thanks to our sponsors for their support and our judges for their expertise.

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