Firstly, on Wednesday, designed to appeal to those who have yet to build an online presence, Emma Thorn, from Enterprise UK, will outline a special initiative, backed by the Government, with help from Google and BT, to get the 1.5 million businesses currently without a website, online. This is free, impartial and very practical support for the new entrants to digital trading.

On Thursday, James Prebble and Bryan Bosak, from Pancentric Digital, will be looking at the increasing use of social networks for corporate use. For those thinking about whether to take the plunge on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook this is a must. Pancentric Digital are working with a wide range of brokers, insurers and BIBA, helping them to use the internet to market themselves and communicate more cost effectively.

For more information on BIBA 2010 click here

Dear Member
 
This week’s top issues:
 

• Met with HMRC to discuss IPT
  Discussions continue on a potential narrowing of the scope of the legislation, but in the meantime BIBA recommends members continue to deal with the legislation requirements as previously addressed
• Welcomed Government proposals to introduce signposting – Click here
• Attended lecture with Mark Hoban MP, Shadow Treasury Minister

BIBA has also:

• Met with three perspective parliamentary candidates to discuss insurance broker issues
• Met with the FSA to discuss its remit for the FSCS review
• Responded to DEFRA on flood research
• Attended the Insurance Institute of London market issues event
• Met with AIRMIC to discuss current issues
• Secured a link from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the BIBA ‘Find a broker’ website
• Held its board meeting which included a presentation from the CII on the Professionalism Task Force
• Held its two London Market Region compliance forums
• Added new Lloyd’s and Xchanging bulletins to the London Market Region section of the website

For more information on any of these activities, please call the BIBA member helpline on 0844 77 00

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has welcomed the new Policy Statement from the Government’s Equality Office.  Proposed new measures will help ensure that customers can obtain the insurance they require and which is right for them. For example, an older traveller with a medical condition who has experienced some difficulty in finding travel insurance.

The proposed new laws will make it compulsory for insurance providers who decline to provide cover (e.g. because of a persons age), to refer customers to a more appropriate source, like a specialist insurance broker, or to a signposting system.   BIBA describes ‘signposting’ as a way of helping consumers who are turned down at point of sale (telephone, internet, face to face) to be directed to an independent source of information  that can offer assistance in finding  the relevant insurance cover.

Signposting will greatly benefit customers who may be considered as non standard risks, such as younger drivers.  Currently when these customers are refused cover by an insurer they are left to continue their search alone without knowledge that insurance is available or where to obtain it.   The signposting/referral system will be of particular help with motor and travel insurance as these are the areas identified where some people have difficulty finding an insurance policy.

BIBA has been calling for greater assistance for customers and is delighted that signposting will become compulsory.   BIBA has an established and successful ‘Find a Broker’ helpline and website that already helps customers to find a specialist insurance broker who can provide suitable insurance.  However, BIBA believes there are many more consumers who are refused cover from comparison sites and direct insurers who are unaware of this helpful service and that an insurance broker can insure them.  

Graeme Trudgill, BIBA Technical and Corporate Affairs Executive, said: “There is a solution through insurance brokers who can cover extremely difficult risks. It really is just a case of knowing where to go. This new requirement for signposting, once introduced, will help customers to find the protection they need, otherwise they run the risk of travelling uninsured, we know of some that have even decided not to go on holiday as they could not find insurance.”

Peter Staddon, BIBA Head of Technical Services, added: “BIBA will continue to work with the Government to ensure the appropriate signposting and referral systems are put in place.”

The BIBA find a broker helpline and website is well established and takes more than 340,000 enquires per year from customers who have been signposted from a range of consumer bodies and BIBA hopes that its service will form part of the formal signposting system as it has already proven to assist customers in finding all types of insurance.

BIBA welcomes any signposting solution and can help support it by way of the local rate Find a broker helpline 0870 950 1790 or website at www.biba.org.uk

CASE STUDY

Mrs Ellis needed to find insurance for her daughter’s car which was in France but would be returning to the UK.  Having trawled the internet and spoken to a number of different insurers for nearly three hours she was becoming increasingly frustrated at her lack of progress.   It was important to Mrs Ellis that everything was done correctly and that the correct insurance was put in place.  Fortunately, it was suggested to Mrs Ellis that she call the BIBA Find a Broker helpline, she did and with the help from a BIBA insurance broker, was guided through the process and found a suitable solution.

-ends-

Notes to editors

1. The Policy Statement from the Government’s Equality Office can be accessed here and the BIBA’s response to the consultation on ending age discrimination in services and public functions can be viewed here

2. For further information please contact:

BIBA press office:
Leighann Burtrand, Communications Manager
020 7397 0223
burtrandl@biba.org.uk

2. About British Insurance Brokers’ Association

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is the UK’s leading general insurance organisation representing the interests of insurance brokers, intermediaries and their customers.

BIBA membership includes 1700 regulated firms. Insurance brokers and intermediaries distribute nearly two-thirds of all UK general insurance. In 2008, insurance brokers and intermediaries generated £1.5 billion of invisible earnings and they introduce £22 billion of premium income into London’s insurance market each year.

BIBA is the voice of the industry, advising members, the regulators, the Government, consumer bodies and other stakeholders on key insurance issues.  BIBA provides unique schemes and facilities, technical advice, guidance on regulation and business support and is helping to raise, and maintain, industry standards. BIBA works closely with the Chartered Insurance Institute to provide training to those working in the industry and actively participates in helping the industry and its customers deal with some of the major issues of the day.

BIBA members provide professional advice to businesses and consumers, playing a key role in identification, measurement, management, control and transfer of risk.  They negotiate appropriate insurance protection tailored to individual needs and operate to a very high standard of customer service with the aim of ensuring peace of mind, security, financial protection and the professional advice required.

To find your nearest BIBA broker visit the ‘Find A Broker’ section of the BIBA website, www.biba.org.uk or call BIBA’s consumer helpline on 0870 950 1790

Grandchildren – bless them. No sooner had they pressed their little faces to mine than the tickle in my throat began. They had flown in from Australia and Singapore carrying an exotic bug with which to lay their Grandfather low.

I sweat and cough through the day. My sleep is a fevered vortex akin to the current turmoil on the world stock markets as fears that the crisis in the US housing market could undermine the global economy bite. I’m impatient for my health to return just as those traders who have seen market volatility wipe millions from their shareholdings long for greater stability.

The insurance industry, brokers and insurers, may not be immune to the credit market’s problems and I’m sure that the FSA have that in hand. Floods, hurricanes and earthquakes add their own instability and while individually may be minor ailments for the global insurance market, they must not be ignored. The insurance market’s health depends upon the availability of capital and underwriting discipline. We need responsible, risk-based underwriting, not a continuing rush to acquire market share on the assumption that all will be “OK” when rates harden.

We need to remember the customer in this turbulence and in particular the conflicting messages they receive from different distribution channels. Brokers, have the additional task of accounting for these wildly varying fluctuations in insurance costs to customers. Trying to explain to a customer the reasoning behind the 30% increase in their buildings and contents cover is because of the recent flooding when all they see on the TV are cut-throat quotes for motor and household insurance is perplexing for both the intermediary and the client. Commercial customers too want to avoid huge swings in their insurance costs if they are to plan for a healthy business.

Managing a secure, but competitive market is challenging for everyone. Let’s hope that the industry sees sense and that some of its participants don’t have to become terminal for market health and underwriting discipline to prevail.

This blog was published on the Insurance Times website on 22/8/07

I was met with an arresting sight as I was driven around the peace camp outside Parliament in a taxi early one morning two weeks ago. It wasn’t the usual grungy peace campaigner being hauled off by police, but a skimpily clad female exiting her tent to perform aerobics.

I don’t agree with their methods of protest, but she started me thinking about the similarities between BIBA and the inhabitants of that camp. For example, we share qualities such as dedication, conviction and a willingness to speak out.

Regrettably, not everyone hears your message the first time. Take for instance broker commission disclosure. Despite having explained BIBA’s position on this many times, we still get asked where we stand with regards to mandatory disclosure.

I don’t know why this is; perhaps it’s down to inaccurate media reporting, wilful misunderstanding or just short memories. So for the record, I want to say that BIBA has never been in favour of mandatory disclosure.

Perseverance is vital in any campaigner. Our stance on commission was adopted after consultation with our membership. It is a viewpoint we have held throughout our long discussions with the FSA and will continue to argue as the forensic review of the market proceeds.

We’re not quite at the point of sending Steve White to pitch camp outside the FSA until it accepts our point of view, but it’s a possibility.

On that note, I’ll finish my first blog by saying well done to the insurance industry for its response to the flooding. Now let’s keep that momentum going and not let ill-considered comments on rates undermine any goodwill that we’ve built with the public.

This blog was published on the Insurance Times website on 15/8/07