New professionalism council launches

The Insurance Brokers Standards Council (IBSC) has been set up by brokers who wish to implement a code of conduct for the profession.

The IBSC said that such a code would improve professionalism within the industry, benefitting both customers and practising brokers.

The IBSC said it will focus on four key areas:

• the interaction between broker and client;
• the interaction between broker and broker;
• the interaction between broker and other stakeholders, for example insurers or the FCA; and
• training and competence.

The council will be chaired by Paul Anscombe (James Hallam Ltd) and the steering committee will include Alec Finch, Steve Burrows (Cobra), Andrew Scott (Aston Scott) and Steve Bamforth (Griffiths & Armour). The steering committee will be supported by professional advisers including Robin Wood (RWA as compliance consultants), John Needham (Littlejohn as accountants), Roger Franklin (Edwin Coe as solicitors) and Ben Elkington QC.

Anscombe said: “The IBSC will be dedicated to raising standards in the insurance broking community for the benefit of our clients and for the stakeholders in our profession, including insurers. We believe that our work will support both the FCA and the professional bodies in our sector, particularly Biba and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). It is vital that the council supports the extremely important work carried out by Biba for our profession with the government, press, business community and the general public.

“We would also seek to fully support the CII in promoting Chartered status and contributing to debates on content for broker examinations.”

Membership of the council will be on an individual basis, but broking firms can become associate members if they sign up to the code of conduct.