Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the sale of the Boots Pension scheme to an insurance company and (2) the effect of this sale on the protection provided to the pensions held in the Boots Pension scheme by the Pension Protection Fund.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
When a Defined Benefit pension scheme transfers responsibility for paying some or all of its members’ benefits to an insurer, the scheme pays a premium to the insurance company, which then takes on responsibility for paying the promised benefits. This is a well-established approach used by pension scheme trustees to secure the promised pensions for members with an insurance company.
Arrangements to provide pension benefits to some or all scheme members with an insurer are secure and offer long term protection for member benefits. Insurance companies are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and their policy holders are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Pension Protection Fund protection is retained until the whole scheme is transferred to an insurer, and both the sponsor and the trustees are discharged. At that point the members are no longer protected by the Pension Protection Fund. This is because all benefits are now secured with an insurance company.
No assessments of individual schemes are made by Government.
Asked by: Peter Swallow (Labour - Bracknell)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Post-implementation review of the travel insurance signposting rules for consumers with medical conditions, published by the Financial Conduct Authority on 11 April 2024, what progress the Authority has made on implementation of the next steps.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and they are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules.
Following its post-implementation review of its travel insurance signposting rules, the FCA set out a number of actions it would be taking to continue to improve access to travel insurance for customers with pre-exiting medical conditions.
The FCA, as the independent regulator for financial services, will provide updates on its next steps in due course.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with regulators on ensuring that the insurance industry treats consumers equally in all regions.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat all customers fairly and insurance companies are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules.
The FCA is an independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry across the United Kingdom and has robust powers to act against firms that fail to comply with its rules.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have with the Competition and Markets Authority on the recent increases in car insurance premiums and access to car insurance for motorists on lower incomes.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the financial services regulators, on an ongoing basis.
The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies set when offering insurance. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator responsible for supervising the insurance industry. Alongside the Competition and Markets Authority, the FCA can enforce against breaches of competition law for the provision of financial services.
The FCA also requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with insurance companies on trends in the level of car insurance premia.
Answered by Bim Afolami
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including financial services firms, on an ongoing basis.
The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies set when offering insurance. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the additional costs to consumers of paying (a) vehicle and (b) household insurance in monthly instalments; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such costs on people on lower incomes.
Answered by Bim Afolami
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the financial services regulators, on an ongoing basis.
The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies set when offering insurance. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the immigration health surcharge for people who already (a) work and (b) pay taxes in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government has no plans to remove the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for temporary migrants who work and pay taxes in the UK.
It is right those granted temporary immigration permission for more than six months should contribute to the sustainability of our NHS. Having paid the IHS, temporary migrants can access the NHS as soon as they arrive in the UK and will only be charged for services that a permanent resident would also pay for, such as prescription charges in England.
Although some temporary migrants will pay tax and National Insurance contributions after they start work in the UK, they will not on average have made the same financial contribution to the NHS which most UK nationals and permanent residents have made, or will make, over the course of their working lives. It is an individual’s immigration status, not their tax and National Insurance contributions, which governs their access to the NHS.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the involvement of UK-based (a) insurers, (b) insurance markets and (c) shipping companies in the provision of services for the (i) export of goods to and (ii) import of goods from Russia.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The UK has introduced a comprehensive set of import and export restrictions on Russia. This has led to a 94 per cent fall in Russian imports into the UK and a 74 per cent fall in UK exports to Russia. Over £20 billion of UK-Russia bilateral trade (from 2021 figures) is now under full or partial sanction.
As well as banning the import and export of goods and technology, UK nationals and companies are prohibited from providing ancillary services which enable their trade, including financial services and funds which includes insurance, brokering and technical assistance.
The UK, alongside the G7 and Australia, has also banned the import of Russian oil and oil products. This substantially reduces the size of the global market for Russian oil and oil product exports.
Importantly, we have also created the Oil Price Cap which operates globally by prohibiting UK and G7+ firms from providing services such as shipping, insurance, and finance to facilitate the maritime transport of Russian oil and oil products to third countries, unless the oil was purchased from Russia at or below the cap. By limiting the price of Russian oil and oil products exported to third countries rather than restricting maritime services altogether, we restrict the revenues flowing to the Russian state and undermine Putin's ability to fund his illegal war in Ukraine, while still enabling oil to flow in a tight market and ensuring that third countries can continue to secure affordable oil.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) social tariffs and (b) other forms of financial support for (i) public transport and (ii) car insurance.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government is taking action to ensure that public transport is affordable for people across the country. We have made significant investments in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In January 2023, the Department introduced the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside of London, which has been extended until the end of 2024. The increase to most regulated rail fares will be capped at 4.9% instead of the July 2023 RPI figure (9%) which has historically been used to calculate fares changes. This is set to come into effect on 3 March 2024, so passengers benefit from cheaper fares for longer. A range of railcards is also available which offers discounts to particular groups.
My officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a range of issues. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene in, or seek to control, the market.
The Department also undertakes research to help inform our policy making and gives due consideration to the travel needs, behaviours and experiences of different groups.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK-based brokers are facilitating the insurance of vessels carrying Russian oil worldwide; and if so, whether they are planning to extend sanction regulations to prevent the Putin regime from funding its aggression in Ukraine assisted by UK based or controlled entities.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The oil price cap, implemented by a Coalition encompassing the UK alongside the G7 and Australia, operates globally by prohibiting UK and Coalition firms from providing services such as shipping, insurance and finance to facilitate the maritime transport of Russian oil and oil products, unless the oil was purchased at or below the price cap level. The UK has implemented a strong enforcement approach focused on prohibition, with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) responsible for civil enforcement, and HMRC and the National Crime Agency jointly considering cases which may be appropriate for criminal prosecution. The Coalition has recently acted jointly to tighten price cap compliance rules and reserves the right to take further action to ensure its effectiveness if needed.