Mr. Kevin Thompson:

I can look to answer them in order. I reiterate that petrol stretching would not be covered under third party, fire or theft policies. The effect of a claim for fuel stretching on a person's no-claims discount would ultimately depend on the type of policy he or she has. Some people pay a tiny amount in addition to their comprehensive policy premiums to enjoy the benefit of having their no-claims discounts protected. In such cases, they do not lose their no-claims discounts. In other cases, depending on the terms and conditions of the policy, when a claim is made the policy holder has to take a step back in terms of the no-claims discount that is allowed against his or her premium.

I was asked whether insurers have removed coverage or taken steps to exclude this from policies. We have seen no evidence of that. The only thing I would say in general terms is that we have 16 carriers operating within the market. They generally compete on price, product offering and customer service. The market dynamics ultimately dictate what they do and do not offer. If a certain provider decides to exclude this type of coverage, that might place the provider at a competitive disadvantage by comparison with other providers. Market forces will dictate what happens. We have no hard facts on the public liability aspect of this issue. Like the Chairman, we understand anecdotally that a limited number of claims have been paid under public liability from petrol stations.