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 Customers,
insurers and broker should be in a win-win-win relationship
by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro
Brokers' Day, a traditional conference at FIAR, focusing on trends
of the insurance brokerage market, has started today at the Sinaia
Casino. The topic on the table was the customer-insurer-broker relationship
and the broker's dual role - a partner for the insurer and a consultant
for the customer - as a potential trigger for a conflict of interests. "At
the moment, there is no conflict of interests between insurers, brokers
and customers and things are not as complicated as one might think.
It has to be a win-win-win relationship that brings about very good
outcomes for all three stakeholders", stated Bogdan ANDRIESCU, President
of UNSICAR, at the opening session of the Brokers' Day.
 There
should be a deadline for disbursing the commission to the broker,
just like there is a deadline for paying the premiums to the insurers
by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro
All problems are solved if the will to collaborate is there and they
should be solved so as to benefit the customer. Still, there is a
trend of insurers that centralize the claims and insurance component,
as well as the commission payment component. There are situations
where it takes 30-40 days from the moment when the insurer collects
the insurance premiums until the broker collects the commission.
Just like the legislation includes a norm with a five-day deadline
for the broker to transfer the insurance premiums to the insurance
company, there should also be a rule providing a deadline for disbursing
the commission to the broker", stated Viorel VASILE, Managing Partner,
SAFETY Broker.
 Doina
FLORESCU, ISC: It has been admitted that there is fraud due to the
expansion of the sales force
by mihai.cracea@mxp.ro
"Provided
that we have an intermediation contract where the deadline set for
the settlement exceeds the validity term of the policy, then
it is clear that
this deadline has to be regulated", emphasized Doina FLORESCU, General Director,
Supervisory and Control Directorate with the Insurance Supervisory Commission.
The main role of the measure of limiting the deadline for the payment
of the insurance premiums into the insurers' accounts is to make
the intermediaries control better the sales force. Thus, the customers
would not find themselves in the situation where they have the claim
shortly after the payment of the policy, but they would not be included
in the account of the insurance company.
"There are over 10,000 intermediaries on the brokerage market. And here
it was admitted the existence of insurance fraud also due to the expansion of
those sales networks and to the lack of control over the brokers as coordinators
of these networks", explained Doina FLORESCU.
 Ina
CRUDU: We are all here to serve the customer, so there should be
no incompatibility
by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro
"With regard to conflicts of interest, I think we are talking about a mentality
that brokers must deal with, because insurers used to collect most of the premiums
in the past and brokers were seen as the competition. Figures demonstrate clearly
that the trend favors the development of the brokerage market because brokers
can provide more developed services than insurers. There should be no incompatibility
because we are all here to serve the customer, while making a profit", stated
Ina CRUDU, Country Sales Director, ASTRA Asigurari.
Iulis BUCSA, General Director of EUROINS, also thinks that the Romanian
brokers' market is headed towards the right growth. "Brokers
will become increasingly important and the insurance market cannot
grow properly without them. As for the insurer-broker relationship,
I think the problems belong to the past and all insurers have learned
to treat this relationship professionally", according to him.
 The
conflict of interests appears when several brokers make different
offers for complex policies, for the same customer
by andreea.ionete@mxp.ro
As for the different quotations from insurers and brokers for the
same customer, it is not normal to have such differences, but if
they exist, the consequences are quite serious, according to the
General Manager of MARSH Romania, Cristian FUGACIU.
"There is a conflict of interests between the broker and the insurer or
between the broker and the customer because there are cases where, especially
for complex policies, several brokers send different offers for the same customer.
An example would concern construction-assembly insurance policies. But, when
insurers join forces to work for the benefit of the customer, everything turns
out well. We need to consider the fact that this is a time when all insurers
try to maximize their profit and lower costs through centralization. This is
why I believe that, by the end of the year, when the top 10 insurers on the market
would sell 80% of the products electronically, this situation would be solved",
stated Gabriel OLTEAN, Sales Director, BCR Asigurari. |
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