Business
Insurers told to make travel and home policies easier to understand
Getty ImagesInsurers need to do more to improve how they handle claims and make it clearer to customers what their policies cover, the UK’s finance regulator has said.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was responding to a “super-complaint” by consumer group Which? about the home and travel insurance sectors.
The regulator acknowledged some problems needed addressing, and said it would expand its scrutiny of how claims are processed and how clear policies are to customers.
Consumer groups said the FCA must follow this up with strong action and see it as a first step to fundamental reform.
A super-complaint is rare, and only used by consumer groups when they believe a large number of people are being significantly harmed by practices across a particular sector.
Consumer group Which? had argued that the home and travel insurance sectors were “broken”. It said that in some cases making a claim to an insurance company could be a worse experience than the distress of the original incident.
The super-complaint was based on three areas of concern. The first was the way that claims are handled, with many being outsourced by insurers to specialists.
The second was the sales practices of insurers, which the consumer group argued were inappropriate and led to widespread confusion over what was covered in a policy.
Finally, it accused the FCA, as the regulator, of failing to provide an appropriate degree of protection for consumers.
Getty ImagesMillions of people across the UK take out insurance policies they hope they will never need to draw on.
Some 22 million home insurance policies were in force last year, with consumers paying more than £7bn in premiums. During the year, consumers made almost 900,000 claims, with insurers paying out a total of £3.2bn.
There were more than 6.8 million travel insurance policies, with premiums of £1.2bn paid last year. Some 600,000 claims led to payouts of more £400m.
But Which? highlighted that acceptance of claims and subsequent payouts were much less likely among home and travel insurance than motor and pet policies.
The FCA found that in 2024, 99% of motor claims were accepted, compared with 80% of standalone single trip travel claims and 74% of home content-only claims.
The regulator said that this, in part, reflected the lower levels of understanding among consumers of what their insurance policy covered.
Graeme Reynolds, director of competition at the FCA, said the regulator would “expand our existing workplan” to ensure improvements to the claims process and consumer understanding of their cover.
“We will continue to hold firms and their senior leaders to account for making improvements, to help build trust and make sure people get fair value insurance,” he said.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI), which represents companies, said the improvements demanded by the FCA were “a top priority” for the sector.
The FCA said it had already addressed various areas of concern in the sector, but consumer groups – including Which? – said more action was needed.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said the FCA must now bring about meaningful change for consumers.
“These issues have been allowed to fester for years, so the FCA must now seize the opportunity to take strong action to stamp out widespread bad practice and issues with how the markets are working,” she said.
James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance, said: “The [FCA] response is unlikely to be sufficient to get to grips with the many and growing problems in this sector.
“The insurance market is caught in a race to the bottom on price – leading to the hollowing out of products, as well as poorer claims experiences.”
A shopper carries Nike bags in San Francisco, California, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Nike on Thursday posted quarterly earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s estimates, as strength in North America helped to offset a plunge in China sales.
The company’s stock slid more than 6% in extended trading Thursday, as investors digested the weakness in China and the sustained hit Nike is taking from higher tariffs.
Here’s what Nike reported for its second fiscal quarter of 2026, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 53 cents vs. 38 cents expected
- Revenue: $12.43 billion vs. $12.22 billion expected
The athletic apparel retailer said sales in North America rose 9% to $5.63 billion. But revenue in its Greater China market dropped 17% to $1.42 billion.
The sneaker company is just over a year into CEO Elliott Hill’s turnaround strategy, focusing on regaining its growth and market share, clearing out old inventory and investing in wholesale relationships.
“Fiscal year ’26 continues to be a year of taking action to rightsize our classics business, return Nike digital to a premium experience, diversify our product portfolio, deepen our consumer connection, strengthen our partner relationships and realign our teams and leadership,” Hill said on a call with analysts. “And I say we’re in the middle inning of our comeback.”
“We’re nowhere near our potential,” he added.
Hill said Nike’s improvements in its China market are “not happening at the level or the pace we need to drive wider change,” though he said the country remains one of the company’s most powerful long-term opportunities.
Nike expects fiscal third quarter revenues to fall by a low single digit percentage, with modest growth in North America. It also anticipates gross margins will drop 1.75 to 2.25 percentage points – including a 3.15 percentage point hit from tariffs.
The company said wholesale revenues climbed 8% to $7.5 billion during the quarter. But direct sales — which were a focus for Nike in the years before Hill took over and moved away from the strategy — fell 8% to $4.6 billion.
Nike has also been feeling the impact of tariff increases. It said Thursday that its gross margin decreased by 3 percentage points and inventories dropped 3% primarily due to higher tariffs.
The sneaker company has been reporting weakness in its Converse brand, too. In its first fiscal quarter, Nike said Converse sales dropped 27% – on Thursday, it reported a 30% drop in revenues for the sneaker brand.
Despite the weakness in some parts of Nike’s business, the company highlighted some areas of strength and new initiatives ahead. CFO Matt Friend said on the call that Nike.com posted its best Black Friday ever this year, partially driven by its Air Jordan “Black Cat” launch.
Nike also plans to launch a new footwear platform in January called Nike Mind, which aims to help athletes prepare for performance and competition, Hill said on the call.
Nike has been making larger internal changes under Hill.
Earlier this month, Nike underwent leadership changes to “remove layers,” according to Hill. Under its “Win Now” strategy, the company announced that Chief Commercial Officer Craig Williams would leave the sneaker giant.
Hill called the shakeup a move “about growth and offense.”
“Collectively, these changes amount to us eliminating layers and better positioning Nike to continue to have an impact the way only Nike can,” Hill said in a statement at the time.
Nike shares have dropped more than 13% this year as of Thursday’s close.
NEW DELHI: The new nuclear energy bill, which was passed in Rajya Sabha by voice vote after a four-hour discussion while rejecting many amendments moved by opposition to send it to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny, marks a decisive shift in India’s nuclear governance, embedding safety oversight in law across the lifecycle of an atomic plant, unlike the existing framework that relied largely on executive discretion and post-accident accountability.Sustainable Harnessing of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill will allow private participation in India’s tightly controlled civil nuclear sector as the country seeks to meet its clean energy goals by 2047. As opposition raised safety and liability concerns, officials said it establishes a statutory safety regime that ensures continuous compliance rather than reliance on one-time permissions. It seeks to provide for a “pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage and confer statutory status to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)”.Officials said unlike the previous law – in which nuclear safety oversight was shaped largely by broad executive authority and administrative rules – SHANTI fundamentally recasts the framework by shifting to a “statutory, lifecycle-based regulatory regime”. Govt manages radiation risks and radioactive waste, but does not mandate separate safety authorisations or legally bind safety obligations to each phase of a nuclear plant’s life. AERB’s stage-wise consent process for construction, commissioning and operation existed only as an administrative practice. Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010 further reinforced a post-accident approach by focusing on compensation and insurance rather than prevention.“These laws (Atomic Energy Act and CLND Act) treated safety primarily as a post-damage responsibility, rather than a proactive governance requirement,” said an official. SHANTI separates “permission to operate” from “permission to operate safely”, requiring both a licence and an independent safety authorisation. Any activity involving radiation exposure risk – including construction, operation, transport, storage, decommissioning, or waste management – will now require explicit safety approval.It also consolidates regulation, enforcement, civil liability and dispute resolution within a single statute, reducing legal complexity and compliance uncertainty. “It grants a clear statutory authority to AERB to inspect facilities, investigate incidents, issue binding directions, and suspend or cancel operations that do not meet safety standards. Regulatory action is no longer dependent on executive discretion. Accident prevention is significantly enhanced by legally recognising serious risk situations as nuclear incidents, even without actual damage,” said the official. Core functions such as fuel enrichment, spent-fuel reprocessing, and heavy water production will remain exclusively under Centre’s control.Anujesh Dwivedi, partner at Deloitte India, said continuing with the existing legal framework would make it difficult for nuclear energy to replace thermal power in the long run. “Over decades, India added only about 8GW of nuclear capacity. Scaling this up to 100GW by 2047- and potentially 300GW or more by 2070 – required major reforms, which these regulations seek to address,” he said.Meanwhile, PM Modi said passing of the bill marks a “transformational moment for our technology landscape”.
American Airlines
Grant Baldwin | Getty Images
American Airlines customers flying on basic economy fares will no longer earn frequent flyer miles or points toward elite status, the carrier said this week.
“We routinely evaluate our fare products to remain competitive in the marketplace. Customers who purchase a Basic Economy ticket on December 17, 2025 and beyond will not earn AAdvantage miles or Loyalty Points towards AAdvantage status,” it said. “Basic Economy customers will continue to receive one free personal item and one free carry-on bag, free snacks, soft drinks and in-flight entertainment.”
Elite loyalty members will still be eligible for first-class upgrades on domestic flights if they’re on basic economy tickets, an American spokeswoman told CNBC.
Basic economy tickets are airlines’ cheapest but most restrictive fares, rolled out across the industry over the past decade. Generally, they do not allow customers to change their tickets without fees or pick their seats in advance.
The move comes as airlines across the board have been chasing customers who are willing to spend more to fly. American has fallen behind large rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in the post-Covid luxury travel boom.
American’s change, posted earlier by X user JonNYC, follows a similar policy by competitor Delta Air Lines, which said travelers on its Delta Main Basic, or basic economy tickets, wouldn’t receive Delta SkyMiles.
United Airlines does allow its MileagePlus loyalty program members to earn miles on basic economy tickets, but it has a different limitation: Basic economy customers on most flights aren’t allowed to bring a carry-on bag.
American had the same restriction after it launched basic economy fares but backpedaled in 2018.
Southwest Airlines this year launched its first no-frills basic fares that stipulate those customers will board last and get a seat assignment at check-in and earn miles at a lower rate than more expensive fares.
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