Who should be made to comply?

Contrast this with the vehicle sales business. There are stringent safety regulations for all vehicles , standards for petrol, sometimes engine efficiency (see California) and frequent re-checks.

If the approach to insurance regulation was taken by the vehicle industry you could pretty much buy a car as dangerous as you like provided the adviser gives you a proper disclosure statement while selling it.

Of course, the penalties for having no insufficient tread on your tyres can be somewhat more immediate and dire than the penalties for having rubbish insurance. But there is a similarity – the life you save many not be your own. The fortunes of your children may depend heavily on the opportunities they enjoy during their formative years. You may choose to maximise spending over protection, in which case, so be it. But if you choose to protect them and find the insurance fails: that is another story.

But in the insurance industry, the compliance impact on the product is quite distant from the consumer. It tends to centre on prudential regulation and management of the insurer, rather than any tough rules on the product.