Insurers Announce Support Measures For Motor Customers

Insurance Ireland has published details of an agreement reached by some of its members named (Allianz, AXA, FBD, RSA and Zurich) to offer financial supports, such as refunds or discounts to customers depending on the claims experience of the company. Measures will also depend on the pricing models and customer profile of each insurer and therefore the amount of any discount or rebate will vary across the market.

We are in touch with these and other motor providers in relation to forbearance measures for motorists. At the forefront of our considerations is the impact on the intermediary channel in terms of potential claw- back of commission and the potentially significant administrative burden associated with this issue. For some providers, the forbearance measure may take the form of a payment to the customer, for others, it may be reflected in a discount at time of renewal.

Please see enclosed RTE’s report from Friday 24th April, including Brokers Ireland response to Insurance Ireland’s announcement and measures.

We are arguing strongly on behalf of our members, that in these exceptional circumstances there should be no claw-back of commission, as the circumstances of the refund to customers are not associated with standard market practices. We have expressed that insofar as possible the administration of any payment out should be attended to by insurers. We are cognisant that currently with COVID 19 restrictions and also Setanta renewals, for many Brokers the issuing of many thousands of cheques would be an overwhelming administrative burden as well as a significant expense for our members in addition to being a challenge from a compliance perspective. We have made sure that providers are aware of this.

Following engagement with Brokers Ireland, Zurich has sent out a communication to its Brokers to confirm that there will be no clawback of commission and where possible they will attend to the payment directly as they are aware that this would be burdensome for Brokers. We will aim to keep you up-to-date on this issue so that you are in a position to advise your customers.

Brokers Ireland will continue to work on your behalf and do our upmost to keep you fully informed as updates become available. We welcome any member queries that you may have and we ask that you directly email queries to the following contacts: