Homeserve faces 34m pound sales and marketing fine

13th Jan 2014 07:27

Home emergency insurer Homeserve is facing a higher-than-expected 34 million pound fine for alleged sales and marketing mis-selling.Homeserve said the penalty from Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, for issues mainly linked to historic sales and marketing, controls and governance and complaints handling, was higher than the company's provision."HomeServe is therefore prudently increasing its provision by £30m," it said.The group, which softened sales practices but could not replace all customers whose contracts lapsed, said it would begin talks with the FCA to finalise the penalty notice.It added: "The ongoing activities of the UK business are unaffected by this notice and the business continues to trade in line with expectations."HomeServe will issue its interim management statement on February 5th.PW