Lords committee tells the FCA to publish a timetable for its home and travel insurance work

A House of Lords committee has told the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK insurers to speed up their work on home and travel insurance. The Financial Services Regulation Committee, chaired by Baroness Noakes, published its report "Home and travel insurance regulation: more for the FCA to do" on 23 October, Insurance Edge and Insurance Times reported. The inquiry began in May 2026.

The committee found that claims acceptance rates for home and travel cover are low compared with other retail insurance and that consumers understand the products poorly. It said the Consumer Duty, introduced in 2023, has not yet improved outcomes. Price comparison websites have driven price-led competition, and many claims are declined because buyers chose on price and did not know what their policy covered.

The report asks the FCA to explain how it will deal with poor claims handling. The regulator has accepted that it must do more on higher-risk practices, including outsourced claims handling and cash settlements. If insurers do not agree on comparable measures, the committee wants the FCA to make comparable outcomes data widely available and to find ways to measure the effect of the Consumer Duty.

The committee was also concerned that consumers increasingly use AI tools to research home and travel cover, an activity the FCA does not regulate, and asked the regulator to consider how to warn consumers about relying on AI to choose a policy. Baroness Noakes said the FCA has actions in progress but "the timescales are not clear", and that it should publish a roadmap.