New Jersey bans automatic travel insurance
The US state of New Jersey has followed California and Florida in outlawing the practice of automatically including travel insurance in online bookings. The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, which issued the new law, called it an ‘unfair method of competition’ and a ‘deceptive trade practice’. Brokers and insurers have been advised to revise their websites, as currently consumers often find that travel insurance is automatically added when booking a flight or holiday and they must deselect the option to remove it from their bill. The new law requires that a consumer must knowingly purchase cover. Automatically charging for travel insurance, said the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, ‘does not comply with the requirement of informed consent’.
The US state of New Jersey has followed California and Florida in outlawing the practice of automatically including travel insurance in online bookings. The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, which issued the new law, called it an ‘unfair method of competition’ and a ‘deceptive trade practice’.
Brokers and insurers have been advised to revise their websites, as currently consumers often find that travel insurance is automatically added when booking a flight or holiday and they must deselect the option to remove it from their bill. The new law requires that a consumer must knowingly purchase cover. Automatically charging for travel insurance, said the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, ‘does not comply with the requirement of informed consent’.