6693 registrations were from the primary insurance market and 7212 from the secondary insurance market, i.e. those who sell general insurance products alongside other goods and services. With regard to applications for authorisation the estimated breakdown was 5151 from the primary insurance market and 4408 from the secondary insurance market.
As at 11 November, 8571 "scope of permission" notices (SPNs) had been sent to general insurance firms. An SPN formally sets out the range of activities the firm will be authorised to conduct and the date from which this permission starts.
In addition, 7319 firms already on the FSA Register (including firms recently authorised to conduct mortgage business) have been granted permission to carry on general insurance business in addition to their current regulated activity
SPNs have been issued to 86 new firms wishing to operate a network with a general insurance business permission only, while 53 networks who were newly authorised to conduct mortgage business on 31 October have also been granted a GI permission to take effect on 14 Jan. And SPNs have been granted to 13 existing networks wishing to vary their permission in respect of general insurance business only and to 43 existing firms wishing to vary their permission to include both mortgage and general insurance business.
Sarah Wilson, Director FSA High Street Firms Division, said:
" General Insurance Day - 14 January 2005 - is now only two months away. Many general insurance firms that acted promptly have now received notification from us of their future authorisation and can carry on their business into next year. However, while the numbers of applications from firms selling general insurance as a secondary activity are rising slowly, we are increasingly concerned that such firms are not applying for authorisation in sufficient numbers. Time is running out and rapid decision making and prompt action is now essential. We will continue our communication work - all secondary firms that have registered but not applied have, for example, recently received a direct mailshot from the FSA. The general insurance industry can also help itself by re-doubling communication efforts – not least as our data show that the most effective prompt for registrations from secondary intermediaries is contact form their product provider."
