staff, are battling away trying to maintain some form of
continuity and serving their customers as they have
always done. Meanwhile the family grieve for their lost
one. But what is the client thinking? Who is looking after
their business, who can they talk to, are their recent
instructions being carried out? Most will be sympathetic,
but in the commercial world, business is business.
Remember the majority of rates are achievable by the
majority of insurance brokers - you bring a different
dynamic to the table, be it service, be it expertise, be it
locality. If the customer has to break in a new member of
staff then why not a new brokerage altogether.
director of a firm. How will they react to reading in the
press that the firm has lost their director?
Our Chairman, Robin Wood, always makes the valid point
that when we see a client and there is a new contact at
the insured firm we need to ensure that they are brought
up to speed in relation to their insurance portfolio, but
the shoe is on the other foot here. Are we expecting
them to bring us up to speed with their insurances?
But death is not the only issue here. If I recall correctly, a
man between his late 40’s and late 50’s is 8 times more
likely to have a debilitating illness than death. That illness
may well lay him up for months, which could be worse.
Therefore the idea of a “buddy” system is sound as is the
decision to review the working relationship with all staff
and to consider a deputy on the most important, if not
all, functions. Think about having additional controllers
of various functions, but most importantly write an
appropriate plan.
And what about insurers? Common in many ToBA’s is a
requirement to advise the insurer following a change in
One of the main cornerstones of the FCA regulatory
provision relates to market sustainability. Obviously,
what they would like to see is the thriving insurance
industry with a variety of distribution channels, and the
consumer having as much choice as possible. It is in their
interest, and also in ours, to ensure that we have a robust
plan in place to ensure continuity of business. That also
means that the Will needs to detail what happens to the
business.
Join the discussion
Change in Status Disclosure
Now we are well established with the new regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, it is just worth reminding
all firms to ensure that if they have not already done so, to ensure that any documents which have the regulatory
status disclosure within them are updated to show the new regulator.
As we know, General Insurance Firms have 12 months ending 31 March 2014 to make the changes, but if any firm
is subject to the Payment Services Directive or the Markets In Financial Instruments Direct, then firms must be able
to demonstrate that they have plans to make these updates at the earliest practicable opportunity.
Please speak to the Helpdesk or your RWA consultant if you have any questions.
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