Insurance disputes have doubled in the last year, putting complaints handling high up the FSA's list of priorities. Chris Busby and Claire Frater report

Statistics from the 2008 Financial Ombudsman's Service (FOS) annual review showed that insurance disputes have doubled in the last 12 months, and complaints regarding payment protection insurance (PPI) have risen six-fold. Echoing the call for greater transparency in the Hunt Review of the FOS, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued proposals to publish firm-specific information on the numbers of complaints and how these are resolved.

Reports have crudely referred to this as a "name and fame" regime at one extreme and, perhaps more contentiously, "name and shame" at the other. While the FSA's aim is clear, it raises questions as to what impact a decision in favour of greater disclosure will have and whether this will make any difference to the handling of complaints by institutions.