Biba 2015: Biba and Mactavish to unveil Insurance Act guide for brokers

The Insurance Act received Royal Assent on 12 February 2015 and will come into force on 12 August 2016.

Its introduction will mean important changes to the way every commercial broker practices throughout the UK bringing both opportunity and new considerations around contracting out, the new duty of fair presentation, and the associated reasonable search requirements.

Mactavish experts - including the man who led the Insurance Bill, former Law Commissioner David Hertzell, will use the fringe event tomorrow to explain the findings of the report to the broker community. They will be joined by Brokerbility chairman and Chartered Insurance Institute president Ashwin Mistry.

Aviva and QBE who are supporting the initiative will also be in attendance to input into the discussion.
Commenting on the fringe event and the launch of the BIBA/Mactavish guide on the Insurance Act, Mactavish CEO Bruce Hepburn, said: "Our depth of experience and close involvement, as one of the core group of consultees relied upon by the Law Commission for empirical advice in support of the Insurance Act 2015, means that we understand only too well the depth of significance the Act will have for all UK brokers.

"It is vital that all parties understand the critical implications of this long overdue change in the law - the first in over 100 years - and use the transition period before August 2016 to review processes and systems to prepare for the significant additional demands it places on them."

He added: "Our guide sets out useful areas to consider before the change goes live and we would urge as many brokers as possible coming to Biba 2015 to attend this fringe event to learn more and obtain a free copy of this important guide produced by ourselves and Biba."

Biba CEO Steve White, said: "Brokers can use this guide to help bring their staff up to speed on the operational changes they may need to consider. We have also written it from a customer perspective so that brokers can help support customers in understanding their new duties.

"The Insurance Act is a key manifesto point for Biba and we welcome the valued contributions from Mactavish, the Biba technical committees, advisory boards, the Chartered Insurance institute, LIIBA and Airmic in producing this introductory guide."

Commenting on Aviva's sponsorship of the Biba/Mactavish guide, Ian Ferguson, customer solutions director for commercial lines UKGI at Aviva, said: "Aviva is proud to have already delivered what we believe are some of the clearest and fairest policy wordings in the market. We have consistently championed the aims of the Insurance Act to bring even greater clarity for our customers.

"It is important, as an industry, that we gain a common view on what the changes will mean and we believe that this guide will help facilitate those next steps. Not only helping brokers understand what they need to do to prepare - but importantly providing them with the information they need when they are having conversations with their clients about the Act."

Amanda Doran, head of commercial combined at QBE, added: "The transition to the new legal framework undoubtedly presents challenges, particularly for the broking community, and we are committed to supporting them through this change. In addition to supporting this excellent guide by Biba and Mactavish, we will also be running Act Labs on our stand where brokers can discuss the changes with our team."

Hard copies of the Biba/Mactavish Introductory guide to the Insurance Act 2015 will be available both at tomorrow's fringe event, which takes place from 1.15pm until 2pm, and on the Biba, Mactavish, Aviva, and QBE stands.

All Biba members will receive a hard copy of the guide, which will be distributed widely to all brokers following the conference.

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