Leader: The FSA must come to its senses on fees

These fees could put brokers out of business: it’s as simple as that. And so Insurance Times has taken up arms and launched its Fair Fees campaign. We’ll say it as many times as it takes to sink in: brokers won’t pay for banks. And they won’t pay for the mis-selling of PPI or anything else as distant from their business as the FSA is from reality.

Turn to page 14 to read Barry Hailstone’s story. He has built up his business from nothing – and today its very existence is under threat because his FSA fees have more than doubled. Or Kevin Standen – his fees have increased by 400%. Or Mark Usher, whose Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) contribution has spiralled by an insane 700%. The list goes on.

Over the coming weeks, we will continue to tell your stories. As the FSA prepares to launch a consultation on its current model for assessing fees, we will make sure it knows the damage it has done to brokers.

We will work with industry leaders and Westminster’s MPs to demand that the regulator comes to its senses. We will go to the highest level of government to demand a fair and equitable structure that separates general insurance brokers from the rest of the financial services sector under the new framework for the FSCS, the payments for which form the bulk of this year’s astronomical rises.

Turn to page 14 for more details, and to page 7 for this week’s latest news. And, please, keep your stories coming in. IT

ellen.bennett@insurancetimes.co.uk