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Investors in People British Insurance Brokers Association Association of British Insurers Chartered Insurance Institute Financial Ombudsman Service Motor Insurers' Bureau IIB

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Investors in People (IIP)

Investors in People (IIP) is a nationally recognised standard that focuses on an organisations staff, it aims to focus the goals of the individual on the goals of the organisation and to ensure that staff have all the training, support and direction required to achieve these goals.

MIA are committed to ensuring that staff are clear about our aims and objectives and that they fully understand how they can contribute to the success of the company. We have achieved IIP accreditation by providing staff with all the support they need to achieve their objectives and we recognise that people are by far our most valuable asset.

Support for each other has become the cornerstone of how we do business, if the team works together then we are much more effective in providing our customers with the standards they require to achieve their objectives.

British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA)

Prior to 1977, there were four organisations representing insurance brokers. In 1977, these four broking bodies merged to form the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA). Its membership was confined solely to insurance brokers.

However, with the growth in financial services and the passing of the Financial Services Act 1986, BIBA changed its rules in order to admit investment brokers as well as inurance brokers. In consequence, in 1987, it changed its name to the British Insurance and Investment Brokers Association (BIIBA). In 1999 the organisation removed the words 'and investment' from its title and reverted to its original title of BIBA. It is the major trade association for insurance intermediaries, with approximately 3,000 members, but it is not the only one. The Institute of Insurance Brokers (IIB) also has a part to play in the market.

BIBA draws its members' attention to the need to comply with the fundamental principles governing the professional conduct of insurance brokers and intermediaries. Its rules emphasise the need to conduct business with utmost good faith and place clients' interests first.

BIBA seeks to maintain and improve the highest standards of business behaviour and to protect and enhance the interests of its members for the benefit of the general public. Its activities include the following:

promoting members' views on proposed legislation;
encouraging training within the broking profession;
nominating members to sit on joint committees;
providing a forum for discussion on, for example, insurance, taxation and investment; and
liasing with outside bodies, including the Government and the ABI.

Association of British Insurers (ABI)

The ABI is the largest of the market associations. The association was formed in 1985 as the principal body representing insurers carrying on business in the UK and resulted from the merger of a number of other specialist associations in the market. Membership of the ABI includes foreign insurance companies operating in the UK.

The ABI is engaged in a wide variety of work, including the gathering of relevant market statistics, framing of codes of practice and playing a major role in public relations, creating a greater awareness of the role of insurance.

The ABI also confers with Government on matters of interest to its members.

The objectives of the ABI are as follows:

To protect and promote the interests of members in respect of all classes of insurance business and in their related activities.
To take concerted measures whenever the interests of members may be affected by the action of any government, body or agency.
To co-operate with any other association having similar objectives.

The ABI's work falls under two councils: the General Insurance Council and the Life Insurance Council. Much work has been carried out by these councils on fire prevention, liability, fraud, motor accidents and life underwriting over the years.

Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)

In the insurance market, the CII has been at the forefront of insurance education and professionalism for nearly 100 years. Over that time, membership has grown to about 70,000 throughout the UK and overseas.

The Institute's examination programmes and membership services ensure that members are equipped with the knowledge and understanding of insurance needed to perform their roles effectively. The CII's activities are extensive and include:

Setting a high standard for members in its code of conduct;
promoting professional growth;
offering a range of qualifications and the means to study for these;
specialist societies for continuing education and development;
training in technical subjects;
library and information services;
specialist publication production;
careers information service;
insurance education development overseas;
local institute educational and social programmes.

Financial Ombudsman Service

The arbitration clause in a standard general insurance policy provides for disputes in respect of quantum (the amount to be paid) to be referred to an independent arbitrator for consideration. However, there has been a great reluctance on the part of the insuring public to use the arbitration process: possibly because they distrusted the process as being biased in favour of the insurer or because they were not aware that the process even existed.

Pressure from the monitoring public and consumer associations helped lead to the setting up, in 1981, of the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau by a group of major insurance companies.

Following the enactment of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the bureau has now become part of the Financial Ombudsman Service under the control of the FSA. Membership of the Ombudsman Scheme is now compulsory for all authorised insurers.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an entirely independent mechanism for dealing with disputes. The Ombudsman only deals with disputes where the insured is either a private individual or a small commercial enterprise having a turnover of less than £1 million, It is not concerned with commercial insurance for larger enterprises.

The Ombudsman aims to provide both impartial and independent conciliation of disputes between these two parties. Although the vast majority of cases referred to the Ombudsman involve claims, any cause for complaint is investigated.

The Ombudsman ensures that all possible steps are taken by the insurance company itself to try to resolve the dispute. If the dispute remains unsolved, the Ombudsman then steps into review the dispute and make a decision. The maximum award which the Ombudsman can make, which is binding on the insurers, is £100,000.

The insured can either accept or reject the Ombudsman's decision. Accepting the decision results in the insurer being required to pay an award, up to a monetary limit. However, if the insured rejects the decision, the insured can still choose to issue legal proceedings. On the other hand, the insurer is bound by the Ombudsman's decision.

IIB

The Institute (IIB) was formed in 1987 as a professional association.
Its membership consists of over 1,000 insurance broking firms throughout
the UK involved in general insurance mediation. The IIB represents their
interests to HM Government, the Financial Services Authority, the EEA
Commission and Parliament and other relevant bodies throughout the
World. It is a non-profit distributing organisation, limited by
guarantee.

IIB members provide a vital service to both businesses and private
individuals, making sure that their insurance arrangements suit the
ever-changing requirements of modern domestic and commercial life.