Call of duty: brokers rise to covid, bushfires challenges

Brokers have received high praise over the way they have reached out to help clients with financial challenges caused by the pandemic, Black Summer bushfires and other natural disasters.

The Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee (IBCCC) says brokers worked to provide support even as they were facing the same disruptive challenges in 2019 and 2020. IBCCC is an independent body that monitors the Insurance Brokers Code of Practice.

These same disruptions include workload issues, keeping operations running while navigating covid restrictions and the need to support and motivate staff working from home during the pandemic.

The committee says that despite the “unprecedented challenges”, many brokers embraced their position as an intermediary between client and insurer, going “above and beyond” to get good outcomes for clients who were affected financially.

IBCCC based its conclusion on an inquiry it launched to examine how brokers responded to recent public health and catastrophe crises and whether they had strategies in place to address similar challenges in future.

It says brokers tailored policies to lower premiums as an interim measure so that clients didn’t need to cancel their insurance coverage. They also extended credit, offered premium funding arrangements as well as discussed access to government assistance.

Many also made it a priority to keep clients informed about what insurance claims they could make under their business interruption policies, endeavoured to understand complex policy wordings and found ways for clients to keep their businesses operating during the pandemic.

“Insurance brokers have not been immune from the pressures of doing business in this environment,” IBCCC says.

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA), which operates the code, says the report reinforces the value brokers bring to their clients.

“Faced with their own challenges of running their own businesses through the pandemic, the findings demonstrate that brokers were able to adapt and stay in close communication with their clients,” CEO Philip Kewin told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

A NIBA spokesman says the association continues to provide members with mental health resources to assist them during these challenging events.

“These resources have included a guide which focussed on building mental resilience and wellbeing, and information and details about free mental health support services available to them in their state and nationally.”

The Black Summer bushfires had the greatest impact on brokers, with about 33% of code subscribers reporting they were affected in various ways, the IBCCC inquiry found.

Some of the specific challenges include an increase in claims and workloads, issues with insurance providers due to delays and issues obtaining policy renewals for clients.

About 65% say they either had one business resilience policy in place during 2020 or were working on one, and a number implemented support mechanisms for employees to improve their wellbeing.

Click here to access the IBCCC inquiry’s findings.