For 2026, the FCA has moved to a clearer, annual priority model designed for boards and CEOs.
On the surface, this looks like a structural tidy‑up. In reality, it reflects a sharper supervisory approach: more targeted data collection, more proactive oversight of larger firms, and a clear statement that firms delivering good outcomes should expect less intrusive supervision – while those who are failing should expect “stronger, faster action where harm is greatest”.
The message is simple: this is not about producing more governance paperwork. It is about being able to demonstrate – with data-backed evidence – that customers are receiving good outcomes.
A measurable agenda, not a policy checklist
The report frames 2026 around four priorities:
- Improving consumer understanding, claims handling and service quality
- Increasing access to insurance
- Supporting growth and innovation
- Simplifying regulation
Each priority comes with concrete areas of focus and specific workstreams for the year ahead.
What stands out is the level of operational specificity: the FCA is signalling where it will look, what data it will examine, and which market segments will be tested in 2026.
This is supervision with defined focal points, not broad thematic messaging.
1. Claims and Service Quality: The credibility test
Claims handling sits at the centre of the FCA’s first priority. Following the Which? super‑complaint on claims, the regulator will continue supervisory and enforcement work in home and travel insurance, with particular scrutiny on firms’ oversight arrangements – especially where claims processes are outsourced.
The FCA has also signalled that claims outcomes will form part of its review of value measures rules.
There are two implications.
First, outsourcing and delegated authority models are firmly within scope. Boards must be able to evidence effective oversight of third‑party claims handlers and demonstrate that remuneration structures do not undermine fair treatment.
Second, claims data is no longer just operational MI. It is regulatory evidence.
The FCA’s reference to the Motor Total Loss work – which resulted in compensation for around 270,000 drivers – underlines the scale of remediation risk where systemic issues are identified.
For many firms, this requires connecting the dots between product design, policy wording clarity, claims handling, complaints data and remediation processes.
2. Access to Insurance: From aspiration to measurable action
Access and affordability move beyond rhetoric in 2026.
The FCA will begin work to increase contents insurance uptake among social renters and review travel insurance underwriting decisions affecting consumers with pre‑existing mental health conditions. In motor, it continues work on factors influencing costs, fraud prevention and smart data use cases.
Two wider market studies also shape the agenda: premium finance (including APRs and fair value) and pure protection (focused on closing the protection gap).
Access is no longer a corporate social responsibility narrative. It is a measurable regulatory theme.
Distribution practices, underwriting rules, pricing approaches and claims experiences will all form part of how firms are assessed on consumer resilience and inclusion.
3. Growth and Innovation: AI and cyber under the spotlight
The FCA’s tone on innovation is supportive, but conditional.
In 2026, it will engage with industry on AI use cases, risks and barriers to safe adoption, and undertake focused work on cyber insurance products. It will also progress consultation work on a new framework for captive insurance.
Innovation is therefore moving from experimentation to supervised practice.
Firms exploring AI in pricing, underwriting or claims will need to demonstrate governance, explainability and outcome testing. Cyber, meanwhile, is being treated as a strategic product class requiring deeper regulatory understanding.
Innovation without evidence of fair outcomes will not meet supervisory expectations.
4. Simplification: Fewer forms, sharper scrutiny
The final priority – simplifying regulation – may be the most strategically important.
The FCA intends to rely more heavily on the Consumer Duty and reduce product‑specific rules and data returns where possible. Consultations are underway to remove certain pricing data returns, rationalise conflicts rules and review the impact of value measures.
There is also joint work with the PRA and Treasury to review the Senior Managers & Certification Regime with the aim of reducing regulatory burden.
But simplification doesn’t mean less oversight.
It signals a shift from prescriptive reporting to outcome‑focused supervision. The trade‑off is clear: fewer returns, but greater expectation that firms can evidence good results.
What Boards Need to do Now
Across all four priorities, a consistent theme emerges: test outcomes, monitor them continuously and act when performance slips.
Boards should be asking four key questions in 2026:
- Do customers understand what they have bought, and where do misunderstandings surface?
- Are claims handled promptly and fairly – including by third parties?
- Who is being excluded or priced out, and why?
- Where are we innovating, and has that innovation improved outcomes?
And then, most importantly: What evidence do we have to back-up these answers?
This does not require building new layers of process. It requires an integrated view of performance – with the ability to benchmark internally and against peers.
The FCA’s 2026 priorities are not a list of tasks to complete. They represent a more outcome‑driven phase of supervision built around measurable results.
Firms that limit their response to revising documents or refreshing board slides will miss the point. The real test is whether outcome monitoring changes decisions in practice – and whether firms can evidencethat with data. Those that do are more likely to find regulatory engagement becomes more predictable and proportionate.
In 2026, the question is no longer: “Are we compliant?”.
It is: “Can we prove the outcomes?”.
How Insurance DataLab can help
Insurance DataLab provides independent benchmarking across UKGI, helping firms assess claims performance, complaints trends, underwriting results, financial strength and partner oversight against individual companies and the wider market.
Whether you are reviewing claims, testing fair value, assessing distribution partners or strengthening board reporting under the Consumer Duty, independent benchmarking provides the external perspective regulators increasingly expect.
If you would like to see how the platform can support your 2026 regulatory strategy, you can request a demo here.