TT Talk - UK - deregulation of freight forwarders' retail cargo insurance

TT Talk Edition 117 (item 1) of 25 March 2009 reported the deregulation in the UK of retail cargo insurance that can be offered by freight forwarders and storage firms. Craig Neame, partner at HFW (London), kindly referred us to the newly published 'Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Exemption) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2009', Statutory Instrument 2009 No. 264, which entered into force on 6 April 2009:

In 2007, Statutory Instrument 2007 No.1821 exempted freight forwarders and storage firms from the general prohibition imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 concerning cargo insurance offered to commercial customers. The new Statutory Instrument 2009 No. 264, by deleting the passage 'who is not an individual' from the definition of 'customer', i.e. by defining customer simply as 'a person who uses the service of a freight forwarder or storage firm', widens this exemption to insurance offered to retail customers. The 'Explanatory note' states that Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 1821 extends the exemption so that freight forwarders and storage firms 'may extend rights under their insurance policies to both their commercial and their retail customers' without becoming subject to regulation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.