Dallas Booth to lead ICA Business Advisory Council

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) has announced that CEO Dallas Booth will chair the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) Business Advisory Council that will include representatives of the ICA, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and the Office of the NSW Small Business Commissioner.

The Advisory Council will bring together business and insurance sectors with the aim of working through practical solutions to insurance availability and affordability issues, particularly for professional indemnity, public liability, and business interruption cover.

Booth said, “It is an honour to have been invited to chair the new Business Advisory Committee announced by the Insurance Council of Australia, and I look forward to making a contribution to these important issues.”

“My goal is to build on the excellent work undertaken by Mr John Trowbridge to better understand the factors behind the difficult market conditions where they exist, and to explore potential solutions with our leading insurance executives. There are no silver bullets here, but I share Mr Trowbridge’s view that collaboration and understanding will lead to good outcomes for all concerned.”

“As this work will commence shortly, I have asked incoming NIBA CEO Phil Kewin to take the lead on these matters on behalf of NIBA.”

The Business Advisory Council is one of many measures that the ICA has announced to improve the affordability and availability of commercial insurance products for the small and medium-sized business sector. The measures are in response to recommendations contained in the final report of the Independent Strategic Review into the role of the private commercial insurance market undertaken by industry expert John Trowbridge.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said, “The ICA welcomes the final report of the Review into the role of the private commercial insurance market and thanks John Trowbridge for this important piece of work. In establishing the Business Advisory Committee and other measures the ICA is responding to a key theme of the Review: solutions, where they exist, will require a concerted effort between the insurance sector, small business, and government.”

“We are pleased this high-calibre group will be chaired by Dallas Booth, whose extensive experience in insurance and broking brings to the table the vital intermediary skill needed.”

Trowbridge’s final Review found that in the context of a hardening insurance market there is no one-size-fits-all solution to issues of affordability and availability for SMEs and that solutions require collaboration and goodwill between the insurance sector, SME sectors, and governments.

The final Review includes 13 recommendations that broadly fall into three categories: improved engagement between insurers and SME sectors; better understanding of insurance by SME policyholders; and advocacy to government and transparency. The ICA supports all recommendations of the Review.

NIBA and the Underwriting Agencies Council (UAC) will participate as required and will separately work with the ICA to facilitate greater access by brokers to underwriters to enable more understanding of and dialogue on underwriting decisions.

Other measures announced in response to the Review and its recommendations include:

• The creation of an ICA Board committee to consider proposals by the Advisory Council to intervene where no single provider of cover exists,
• An examination of the simplification of commercial policy definitions and documentation,
• Consideration of consistent industry-wide protocols for situations where significant increases occur on already high-cost premiums,
• Continued support of work to improve the transparency of broker fees,
• Improved engagement with government to ensure policy development and implementation takes account of overt and latent insurance issues, and to reform insurance taxes and levies,
• Further development of risk management and mitigation advice and education,
• Advocacy to expand public availability and improve the useability of the National Claims and Policies Database held by APRA.

You can access Trowbridge’s final report titled, Role of the Private Insurance Market – Independent Strategic Review: Commercial Insurance here.