to think the Government could do more to make life better without it costing the country anything

[Magrathea]

We all know times are tight, the Country is skint and the Government cant (or wont) really do anything budget wise but cut things. I do think they could do more things to help us out just to take some of the aggravation out of life or protect us from being ripped off and it would only cost the country the price of the legislation. Here are two I thought of -

1. A couple of years ago the courts ruled against the FSA over the setting of fair rates for bank charges. The courts seemed to morally want to rule in favour of the FSA but said the law didnt allow it and it would need legislation to give the FSA the power - so, why not legislate? It would make the lives of the poor an vulnerable that bit better and give us a system which is much closer to fair than the one we have now.

2. Get a grip of the insurance companies and stop them ripping us all off, profiteering and hiking up premiums in the most spurious of circumstances and using any weak excuse to wriggle out of paying when something goes wrong. I guess this one is power to the FSA or the Ombudsman again but why not give them some real teeth and make life easier for us into the bargain

They cant all be to do with financial stuff, there must be loads more which might even pull off a minor miracle and make this excuse for a Government a bit more popular without costing anything.

I don't disagree with the principle of improving consumer protection in relation to financial services.

But more regulation like this would NOT be cost-free: as soon as you create new rules, you need systems/people to monitor and enforce them. And legislation itself costs plenty given the amount of time it takes lots of people to frame, draft, clear and consult on it, even before it gets to Parliament.

What the govt should do is ban these no win no fee, sue everyone companies as that is the real reason insurance is going up. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If there is a puddle of water on the floor, step round it - don't walk through it, slip over and then sue for compensation!

I agree the insurance industry needs regulation or perhaps even licensing. It always strikes me as amazing that so many other fields are so regulated, and the insurance industry, which needs really specific regulation, is allowed off virtually scot-free. The insurance ombudsman is pretty useless too.

However the Government seems more concerned with preventing people playing the radio at their work!

Another thing that could drastically improve people's lives is making it visible and obvious that you have insurance, MOT and road tax, by displaying a disc on your car registration number that needs to be renewed annually, like in Switzerland.

They could improve my life by just fucking off altogether, useless twats .

A bit off topic, but I've always wondered why the government don't offer incentives for couples with children. So maybe something that would ease the costs of one of them being a stay at home parent. It'd save money for them in child care, it would provide more jobs for other people, and most of all the child would have constant parenting.

Just an idea that I'd like to see happen but wont