Product Governance

Product approval process and target market statements

In line with the FCA policy statement PS21/5, ‘General Insurance pricing practices’ on 1st October 2021, we would like to share an overview of our governance processes in place across Ansvar as to how we oversee the design, approval and review of our products during their lifecycle.

You will also find our target market statements, developed for each of our products, to provide clarity as to whom the products are designed for.

What processes do Ansvar have in place?

The key areas outlined below cover the various processes we have in place to monitor our products as well as the information we may require from our distributors (brokers) throughout the lifecycle of a product.

Product development process

The product development process has been designed to ensure that we have a consistent approach to the development of new or significantly adapted products and protects against our products having any potential to cause customer harm.

The process allows for continual monitoring and decision-making throughout the journey, taking in to account a number of factors such as customer testing and an evaluation of fair value. Each product development project will have a core team of individuals assigned to it to ensure a balanced approach is taken.

The process comprises 6 stages:

Initial concept
Business case development
Detailed design phase
Build phase
Launch
Post implementation review

Product review process

The product review process has been designed to ensure that we assess our products against a range of factors and metrics, to check for any risk of customer harm, and to ensure we have the necessary controls in place to know when we need to take remedial action.

These reviews will be carried out annually (or more frequently as determined) to analyse product performance and to ensure they are meeting customer needs and continue to provide fair value. Our fair value assessment outcome summaries can be viewed below.

Information required from distributors (brokers) and other distribution partners

As part of the FCA rules we will be requesting information from distributors that sell our products to understand the total value of the product to the customer. Examples of this include fees and charges, complaints relating to the product and evidence that the product has been sold to the right target market.

Target market statements

An ongoing requirement of FCA rules is for the product manufacturer (Ansvar) to provide our distributors (brokers) with clarity as to who the product is aimed at and how it can be offered to customers.

We have produced an overarching target market statement for each of our products which demonstrates: