Legislation / Legal
OFT: The OFT has provisionally decided that there are competition problems in the audit market that pass the statutory test for referral to the Competition Commission. However, it is now to discuss with interested bodies whether, in practice, potential remedies exist that could allow the Commission to resolve these problems.
Having considered a wide range of evidence, much of it reflected in the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee's recent report on audit, the OFT has now reached the provisional view that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are features of the market that restrict, distort or prevent competition in the UK.
Newswire – LC: The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission have recommended the creation of a new consumer statute setting out what a consumer should tell their insurer before taking out insurance.
The current law imposes a duty on consumers to tell insurers anything which would “influence the judgment of a prudent insurer” in fixing the premium or deciding whether to take the risk.
The current law imposes a duty on consumers to tell insurers anything which would “influence the judgment of a prudent insurer” in fixing the premium or deciding whether to take the risk.
The problem is that most consumers have little idea of what might influence a prudent insurer. Yet the penalties for failure to disclose information to insurers are harsh. If a consumer fails to disclose material information, the insurer may treat the policy as if it does not exist and refuse all claims under it.
EHRC: The Supreme Court yesterday handed down a decision on the holding of DNA data (PDF on external site) last week. John Wadham, Group Director, Legal at the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "There have to be clear and justifiable reasons for holding onto the DNA data from people who have not been convicted of a crime. Our view is that the current guidelines for the police are not in keeping with the law and the Supreme Court has confirmed this."
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