Mutually Yours, October 2018
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PRA scraps costly and unnecessary audit requirement following AFM lobbying
The Prudential Regulatory Authority has announced today (17 October 2018) that it will exempt small UK insurers from the requirement to have their annual Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR) externally audited.
All AFM members meet the threshold condition for the exemption, as do around 120 other small insurance companies (see PS25/18 'Solvency 2: external audit of the public disclosure requirement'). We provided evidence to the PRA that this was a very costly exercise, and duplicated verification work elsewhere. For mutuals and not-for-profits, the extra audit work added extra pressure to a tight reporting timescale, and has more than doubled many organisation's audit costs, without providing any clear benefit to readers of the SFCR.
Martin Shaw, Chief Executive of AFM commented: "We are grateful to PRA for exempting our members from this requirement, which gold-plated the Solvency 2 rules, and has not been adopted by any other European country. Members of a mutual already receive a copy of the report and accounts of their insurer, and this gives a strong account of how the business is run in their best interests. The SFCR is a technical document which has added up to £50,000 to audit costs, and which our evidence demonstrated, is only read by industry professionals."
AFM launches consultation on changes to our corporate governance code
On 15 October AFM announces that it was launching a consultation with members and other stakeholders on its approach to corporate governance.
Our aim is to set out proposals for a change to our current corporate governance code by the end of 2018, with a view to our members implementing the revised approach during 2019, for accounts published in 2020 (the current annotated Code remains the source of 2018/19 reporting).
In light of these timescales, the consultation will run for one month, to 15 November 2018. We welcome feedback from any interested parties, but in particular we welcome comments from our members and other mutual organisations, members of mutuals, and regulatory bodies.
The consultation paper can be viewed here.
To respond to this consultation, please provide your comments on the questions raised, in a Word document, sent by email to [email protected].
Mutually Yours, August 2018
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Mutually Yours, June 2018
You can read the latest edition of Mutually Yours via this link.
Mutuals pay 94% of income protection claims in 2017
New research from AFM reveals that its income protection providers paid out 93.7% of claims in 2017.
AFM letter to the Economic Secretary
In March we wrote to the Economic Secretary, putting forward a case for the government to consider exempting holders of mutual health cash plans from paying Insurance Premium Tax.
In the UK, we benefit from one of the best healthcare systems in the world. But trips to hospital, or paying for routine healthcare, such as GP prescriptions, dental check-ups or eye tests, means costs can mount up. And individuals may also need to pay for therapeutic treatments, such as a chiropractor or physiotherapist. The low premiums and accessible nature of the health cash plan makes them attractive to people for whom these costs may be difficult to budget.
Mutually Yours, April 2018
Our latest newsletter, with lots of topical news from the sector, can be accessed by clicking on this link.
AFM submission to the Work and Pensions Committee's rolling inquiry into Universal Credit
With the support of Sami Consulting, we have provided a submission to the Work and Pensions Committee, highlighting the inequity for income protection providers, of the way payments from Universal Credit are deducted £ for £ in light of any income protection claim.
Mutually Yours, February 2018
The February 2018 edition of our newsletter contains articles on:
- Leading mutuals
- EU rules!
- Supporting the needs of elderly and vulnerable customers
- Member news
- Events and Training
To read in full, click here
AFM launches the first three is a series of new infographics on the needs of elderly and vulnerable customers
To support a series of workshops provided for AFM members in recent months, and in conjunction with the branding agency and AFM Associate member Let's Talk Ageing, AFM has sponsored the development of a series of new infographics.These can be downloaded and pinned up in the office to help members identify the particular needs of more vulnerable and elderly customers, and how they can best support them.
The first three infographics cover:
- facts about the ageing population
- health and wellbeing of elderly people
- the scale of UK vulnerability
In addition, at the request of members we have produced a draft Vulnerability Policy, that members can adapt to summarise the way they work with vulnerable customers.
Mutually Yours, December 2017
This edition features:
- 2017 in perspective
- Changing Corporate Governance Expectations
- Member Updates
- Newest AFM Associate Member
- Taking Control of Your Data
- Events and Training