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Compensation Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend Lord Hunt. There could be a problem if you regulate on the basis of drawing a rather careful line somewhere in the market of claims management services—or possibly more than one line—and saying that on this side it is regulated and on that side it does not need to be. In addition, if you authorise persons and say that those on one side of the line are exempt but the others have to apply in some way for authorisation, there is the potential, as my noble friend said, for a lot of challenges. At the moment, the Bill has no form of appeals system in it whereby somebody could say he should be authorised because he has met the standards to which we have been referring in recent exchanges. I worry that that could lead to the sort of situation illustrated by the Minister if the market goes through a turbulent phase and then has to settle down. Some people will see themselves as being disadvantaged by these arrangements and may well seek to challenge them.