Supporting the Scrutiny & Consumer Affairs Committee of the General Insurance Standards Council

Background

The GISC Scrutiny & Consumer Affairs Committee was established as part of the corporate governance structure of the former general insurance regulator to assess GISC’s effectiveness in establishing and enforcing principles and rules of good business practice, and to represent the interests of consumers relating to the activities regulated by GISC.

The Committee’s terms of reference provided for it to be independent of GISC and to speak publicly on issues where it considered that to be appropriate.
Rachel was appointed as Secretary to the Committee for the last two years of GISC’s existence, until general insurance regulation became statutory under the Financial Services Authority.

Key skills used

· Arranging meetings
· Preparing meeting papers
· Research
· Minute-taking
· Analysing and interpreting information to develop specific recommendations for action

Details of the project

1. The Committee held up to six meetings per annum. In advance of each meeting, it was necessary to produce an agenda for the approval of the Committee’s Chairman, and to research and develop supporting papers as appropriate, using knowledge of key issues facing GISC, the regulated community and general insurance customers.

2. Since the transition from GISC’s self-regulatory regime to statutory regulation had been the dominant issue in the general insurance industry since 2002, it was vital that the Committee were aware of the Financial Services Authority’s progress in this respect, and the implications for the industry and its customers. Accordingly a regular reporting system was established to keep the Committee up-to-date with key regulatory developments.

3. A number of reports were developed under the direction of the Committee, for presentation to the GISC Board to communicate the outcomes of the Committee’s work and to aid Board decision-making. These often required research and consultation both within and outside GISC, including liaison with Government departments.

Outcome

In the Committee’s final report, published at the end of 2004, the Chairman of the Scrutiny & Consumer Affairs Committee wrote “My colleagues join me in paying tribute to the excellent quality of the contribution and support from Rachel Maidment who has been Secretary to the Committee during the past two years. Her commitment and diligence in carrying out her role for the Committee has assisted me enormously in the work we have carried out.”

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