Loss assessors to be regulated

Cila has received confirmation from the FSA that public loss assessors will be regulated.

At the end of last year, loss assessors - adjusters who work on behalf of insureds - complained that there had been little guidance from the FSA about how regulation would affect their business.

But Cila deputy president Andy King

confirmed this week that Cila had received a letter from the FSA clarifying its position.

King said the FSA had made clear that those "involved in claims preparation and loss assessing must be regulated".

King added that Cila would shortly be contacting its members and issuing guidance on how regulation would affect loss assessors.

"We will be strongly recommending firms involved in this type of work to apply to the FSA for authorisation," King said.

Last October, Malcolm Harvey, chief executive of Loss Recovery Group (LRG) complained that little attention had been paid to issues concerning the regulation of loss adjusters working for insureds.

Cila responded to the complaints by contacting the FSA at the end of last year requesting more information about how regulation would affect loss assessors.

Meanwhile, King confirmed that the new ABI/Cila claims code was set to be issued this month.

The code will standardise the way in which loss adjusters deal with insurers.

It addresses a range of issues affecting loss adjusters including: training and compliance, claims handling procedures, file management, complaints, business continuity and surge plans (standard instructions to deal with large amounts of claims).

King said: "Most loss adjusters should meet a lot of the requirements set out in the claims code already. It's a case of making sure the measures are documented properly as the FSA wants to see evidence of these procedures."