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It’s been a rough couple of days for the insurance industry’s reputation. First, the BBC’s Watchdog dumped a barrel of criticism on the industry when the programme reported how insurers are increasing premiums for existing customers at renewal but offering the same deal at a cheaper price for new customers online. This was the result of a shed load of complaints from angry customers – and no doubt there will now be thousands more out there with similar grumbles.

Then, over the weekend, consumer group Which? published findings on its latest investigation – claiming that insurers are overcharging customers for making basic changes to their insurance policies. In the press, phrases such as “rip-off”, ‘’exorbitant” and “taking consumers for a ride” have been bandied around. This won’t be easy reading for insurer bosses. So what are they going to do about it? In the case of insurer’s dual pricing, some of the accused companies admitted this was wrong – for example, Admiral said it was working to resolve the problem.

But will insurers do enough to change the current perception? There is no guarantee that this will happen quickly, but consumers are becoming smarter at searching out the best deals thanks to aggregators and insurers will increasingly find the battle to hold on to business even tougher. With a stream of new players entering the direct market, this vicious circle could continue and it may not be long until it appears on the regulator’s Treating Customers Fairly radar.

The Which? findings reported today have shown that insurers need to be more upfront with their customers. If they don’t respond to these accusations, their integrity among customers will weaken even further.  

Shakespeare’s guilty verdicts

Today we revealed developments surrounding failed underwriting agency Shakespeare Underwriting. Two ex-directors – Jayson Hollier and Andrew Booth – have both been found guilty. They have yet to be sentenced but it is likely to bring to an end the long-running saga.