Treasury officials have informed BIFA (British International Freight Association) that it is their intention to remove the requirement for freight forwarders to register with the Financial Services Authority in order to provide insurance to their customers as part of their service offer.
This decision follows a four year campaign by BIFA to seek exemption for freight forwarders from the Insurance Mediation Directive that has resulted in many companies withdrawing the offer of insurance to their customers.
BIFA Director General said “I am delighted that our campaign to get forwarders excluded from the definition of insurance mediation has been successful. We recognise that there are a number of steps that have to be taken before this becomes law and we will be consulting further with the Treasury in the coming weeks to facilitate this.”
One of BIFA’s key arguments has been the differing interpretation that the various Member States of the EU have been placing on the process of insurance as provided by the freight forwarder. The European Commission has helpfully been able to provide some clarification on this activity that has led the Treasury to review its original decision not to exempt the forwarder.