BIBA welcomes postponed broker contribution to the FSCS Retail Pool

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has welcomed publication of the latest levy requirements from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which will see its members no longer being asked to provide a significant contribution to the retail pool for the 2021/22 financial year.

Firms in the General Insurance Distribution funding class are the biggest contributors to the retail pool, when another FSCS funding class exceeds the limit that may be collected from them.

BIBA’s Head of Compliance, David Sparkes commented: “The change in FSCS levy for 2021/22 will help firms in the insurance broking sector, which like all industries in general, is getting back on its feet, following the challenges brought on by the pandemic. The 2021/22 contribution should now be in the region of 17.5% of the contribution they would have been asked to pay, had a call been made on the retail pool this year.”

The news from the FSCS comes with a warning however, that the 2022/23 financial year could be worse than predicted for 2021/22, with a number of anticipated collapses happening a year later than thought. The levy for 2021/22 had been £833m, whilst the first prediction for 2022/23 is £900m.

Sparkes added: “The extent of the contribution to compensation payments has been a bone of contention for BIBA members, who have been asked to pay for the failures of firms with whom they share no affinity, for many years now.  We are pleased with today’s outcome but will continue to lobby on behalf of members for fairness in the funding arrangements overall.”

The final levy for 2022/23 will not be known until the early half of 2022.

Authored by BIBA