Financial & Legal Insurance (FLI) was one of the founding members of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), launched in March 2019 with the aim of bringing a single voice to the many different companies that support, advise and help customers when they make a claim.
Access to justice is enshrined in our laws and culture, but over the past twenty years there has been a concerted effort to portray making a claim as socially unacceptable.
ACSO, a not-for-profit membership body, has been created to give the claims industry (and the customers it supports) a stronger voice in government, the media and the public arena, so that citizens’ rights are properly defended. ACSO will not hesitate to defend the interests of consumers and member companies, and where possible it seeks to work with other stakeholders, including insurers and other business groups, to ensure a consensual approach to claimant’s rights.
The claims industry has traditionally been at loggerheads with the defendant sector (insurers), with the result that customers have lost out. By creating, in ACSO, a single, more powerful voice, with a mission to uphold access to justice, FLI believes the customer will benefit.
It is early days for the new association, but already, FLI is closely involved in discussions with the FCA on legal expenses reform. No other trade body represents LEI providers, and the opportunity to work in tandem with other LEI businesses, on issues of mutual interest, directly with the regulator, has been enormously valuable.
Financial & Legal Managing Director, Mike Timmons, said:
“We think that ACSO is the future for the claims industry when it comes to looking after the interests of both our customers and our business, so we are very proud to have joined from the very start and look forward to being part of ACSO as it shapes the future of our industry for the better.”
