Insurance could face regulatory intervention if it does not put its house in order, warned new Marsh UK chief executive, Bruce Carnegie-Brown.

According to a report, Carnegie-Brown said he was astonished at the length of time it could take between a broker obtaining insurance for a client and details of the cover being spelt out.

"If we don't reform ourselves, somebody else is going to do it and the most obvious suspect is the FSA at this point," said Carnegie-Brown.

"To a banker, there is the extraordinary situation that you line up at a desk in Lloyd's and you get a slip and it is followed by a cover note but the wording on the policy document can take months to sort out - and is some cases is bound without the policy wording being completely agreed."

He added: "The apparent inability to reform that does the industry a huge disservice," concluded the report.