Regulation: another in a list of unsatisfactory solutions

Although insurance is essential to industry and society, it has never had a good name with the general public - unless receiving settlement of claim.

The government says the pending introduction of a comprehensive regulatory system, far superior to the current one, will build confidence. However, what I see of it seems to ensure stifling of initiative and at tremendous cost to everyone - insurer, broker and insured.

The complex rules envisaged are a real concern and it takes a barrister to fully understand them. An army of bureaucrats, paid exorbitant salaries, will ensure that the premium cost of all insurance will rise because, in the end, the customer has to foot the bill.

The Motor Insurers Bureau already accounts for 10% of a motor premium, to cope with the uninsured motorists against whom the government refuses to take drastic action.

Where the insurance industry needs help, for example in the area of floods and employers' and public liability, the government scuttles into hiding.

Will its new regulation prove a boon or a liability to the general public, commerce and industry?

JH Green, Manchester.