1. The Insurance Brokers Code of Practice - an update
David Duffield, Industry Representative
Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee
September 2018

2. I will cover - The Insurance Brokers Code of Practice
The Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee
Code activities over past 12 months
Tip of the Month
2017 Annual Compliance Statement
IBCCC Annual Review ‘Our impact’, 20 August 2018
Own Motion Inquiry ‘Professionalism and Competency’, 1 August 2018
Own Motion Inquiry ‘Internal Dispute Resolution process’
Review of the Code

3. Code = good industry practice
A Code is a set of promises by you in your profession as insurance broker towards your client
By adopting this Code, you agree to comply with the standards and have its performance monitored.
Company framework and culture
Code
Contracts & charters
Law
Good industry practice
Codes are about continual improvement and
doing more than the bare minimum.
Minimum standards & expected conduct

4. Code Compliance Committee (Australian Financial Complaints Authority)
“We support insurance brokers to achieve good practice in service and advice to their clients.”
The Committee
Code Compliance Committee
Independent Chairperson
Michael Gill
Industry Representative
David Duffield
Consumer Representative
Julia Davis
Code Team
(Australian Financial Complaints Authority)
Sally Davis
General Manager
Code Compliance & Monitoring
Daniela Kirchlinde
Compliance Manager
Investigations Manager
Compliance Analyst
NIBA
Industry Liaison Group
Charter
Code

5. Code activities over past 12 months
Tip of the Month – monthly publication in Insurance Adviser
2017 Annual Compliance Statement – self-reported breach and complaints data
Own Motion Inquiry ‘Professionalism and Competency’ - published on 1 August 2018
IBCCC Annual Review ‘Our impact’ – published on 20 August 2018
Own Motion Inquiry ‘Internal Dispute Resolution process’ – follow up on inquiry February 2017 – findings to be published in Oct/Nov 2018

6. Tip of the Month Monthly articles in the Insurance Adviser to:
provide guidance and share good industry practice for standards of practice and services provided by the insurance broking industry
engage stakeholders to actively share information and about industry practice
promote understanding of the Committee’s operations and the benefits of the Code among Code subscribers and regulators
enhance the visibility of the work of the Committee to the broader community
Main issues raised:
professionalism and competency
effective communication
meaningful record keeping
breach and complaints recording and reporting

7. 2017 Annual Compliance Statement (ACS)
central component of the Committee’s monitoring work
information about Code compliance frameworks and breach and complaints reporting and monitoring, as well as organisations’ overall culture of compliance and examples of good practice
benchmarks organisations’ compliance with the Code
reports on current and emerging issues in Code compliance to the industry and wider community
establishes areas of highest priority for Committee’s future monitoring work
Code subscribers self-reported:
1,359 Code breaches
52% Buying insurance (Serv. St. 5)
23% Compliance with the law (Serv. St. 1)
1,047 internal dispute resolution complaints
20% concerning small business policies
58% concerning service issues

8. IBCCC Annual Review 2017-18 ‘Our impact’
provides improved feedback to the industry and consumer advocates regarding outcomes and learnings from Code compliance monitoring activities
improved collection and analysis of Code subscribers’ self-reported Code breach and complaints data
enhanced transparency of Code compliance monitoring and reporting data
Focus on:
Professionalism’
How insurance brokers complied with the Code
What the Committee achieved
Case study and examples
Self-reported breach and complaints data
Published
20 August 2018

9. OMI ‘Professionalism and Competency’
recent public scrutiny of the financial services sector has brought the theme of professionalism into sharp focus
How do insurance brokers understand professionalism in the context of the Code and apply this within their businesses
formal education provides a solid foundation for professional practice but alone does not give staff the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to provide services competently
competency defined as a person’s skills, knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, qualifications and training
vast majority of Code subscribers have indicated that they take competency and professionalism seriously
280 organisations representing more than 15,000 staff in client-facing, management and support roles.
Published
1 August 2018

10. professionalism + competency = good practice
Findings
Insurance brokers defined professionalism as
Education — having a sound educational qualification
Training and development — having a commitment to and participating in continuing professional development
Client focus — treating clients honestly and fairly and acting in their best interests
Continual improvement — striving to exceed minimum legal and regulatory standards; implementing and observing the Code, and often embracing standards beyond the Code
Ethics — adopting and applying high standards of ethics and integrity
professionalism + competency = good practice

11. Recommendations
Incorporate the Code into company structure and strategy.
Common organizational understanding of competency focused on meeting client expectations.
Assess and monitor staff performance based on skills, knowledge, attitude and behavior.
Encourage and develop leadership for all size of business and clients.
Keep good records of training undertaken.
Monitor staff performance, including through client feedback.
Competency-based training is equally important as educational qualifications.
Exceed ASIC minimum training standards.
Train all staff in Code obligations.

12. Follow-up own motion inquiry ‘IDR process’
Follow up on recommendations issued by the Committee in an own motion inquiry into compliance service standard 10 of the Code published in February 2017.
‘We will ensure that we have an internal complaints and disputes handling process that meets the Code Complaints and Dispute process standards’
Assessing whether organisations had adopted the Committee’s recommendations and whether compliance had improved.
“It is not about complaint standard, it is about service standard.”
Preliminary findings:
Processes are in place but need improvement.
Not just following procedures, but fine tuned to support staff.
Improvements needed to deal with clients who need assistance.
Importance of written procedures regardless of size of organisation.
Independently review and test your procedures.
To be published
Oct/Nov 2018

13. Review of the Code
‘NIBA will arrange for the Code to be reviewed every three years’ (page 6 of the Code).
Committee is looking forward to working with NIBA in the Code review.
Codes are about continual improvement and doing more than the bare minimum.
Enhancing professionalism and competency.
Embedding good industry practice into daily operations.
Protecting vulnerable consumers.
Differentiating ‘complaints’ from ‘breach’ by taking a holistic approach.

14. Where to find guidance Own Motion Inquiries
Check out for guidance, fact sheets and examples of Code breaches and good industry practice.
Check out for a copy of the Code and NIBA’s guidance notes.
Own Motion Inquiries
Professionalism and Competency, Aug 2018
Internal Dispute Resolution, Feb 2017
Website Review, Mar 2015
For breach examples – Annual Review ‘Our impact’, Aug 2018
Code breach classifications (see Guidance Note 1: Classification, Reporting and Remediation of Breaches, September 2015)
For feedback or comments, please