The Insurance Brokers Code of Practice
You have insurance for your home and your car. You have insurance for your business or professional indemnity insurance for your job. If you have investment properties you’ll have separate insurance on them as well.
When you get insurance it’s not for the little things in life, it’s for the big things. Insurance is there to protect the things you’ve chosen to invest your precious time and resources into. That’s why getting insurance is a serious matter and insurance brokers can help.
Insurance brokers are professionals with there own code of practice. All insurance brokers in Australia who are part of the NIBA ( National Insurance Brokers Association) adhere to the code. This is done to help ensure the quality of customer service and increase consumer confidence in insurance brokers – and the role they play in the insurance process.
What The Code Means For The Consumer
For customers, it means they should expect a level of professional commitment in a number of areas. Some examples of these include:
High Standards Of Customer Service – This is more than a smile on your insurance brokers’ face. This is about knowing that the broker you are dealing with is always acting in your best interest.
Managing Conflicts of Interest – There should never be any doubt who your insurance broker is actually working for. This is an important layer of trust when working with someone who is navigating policies with you.
Informing The Customer On How The Broker Is Paid For The Services They Provide – It should always be obvious to the consumer where the financial insensitive for your broker is coming from.
Transparent Complaints and Compliance Review Process – It’s ok to admit that sometimes things go wrong, after all, that’s what insurance is for. The code’s commitment here is to make this process easy to understand and clear every step of the way.
Adhering to this level of professional transparency is integral to helping ensure customers who experience serious issues remain confident that their personal negative experience is not representative of the profession as a whole. It is also important for other brokers to know these cases are being handled with the same level of professionalism they are expected to adhere to.
That We Will Abide By Any Binding Sanctions Imposed On Us Under The Code For Any Breach. – Lastly, part of working under the code is knowing that if a breach has been committed there are consequences. The binding and transparent nature of the sanctions imposed under the code is to reassure both the consumer and other professional insurance brokers.
Final Thoughts
Life is full of unexpected risks and picking your insurance broker shouldn’t be one of them. The insurance market is just as complicated and nuanced as life itself. It can be a lot of work to find the right policy that fits an individual’s needs. A lot of care and attention goes into making sure consumers aren’t left exposed to unnecessary risks.
When looking for insurance brokers in Perth, make sure to pick someone who follows the insurance brokers code of practice.