Biba has made five calls for action to the government on the subject of Brexit
Biba has used it’s 2019 manifesto launch to shine a light on the “gaping hole” in the draft EU withdrawal bills around arrangements for insurance brokers post-Brexit.
At the House of Commons this afternoon, Biba laid out its concerns and said it wants to work with the government to ensure brokers can overcome current uncertainties around Brexit.
This includes calls for clarity on how UK brokers will be able to continue trading in the European Economic Area; changes to the Insurance Distribution Directive to create regulatory equivalence; and ensuring a agreement is reached for motorists driving in the EU.
Biba made five calls to action on the subject of Brexit:
- For the UK Government to push for a solution for UK brokers trading with retail and commercial customers in Europe
- For the UK Government to provide urgent clarification on how an ‘expanded equivalence’ regime would work for brokers
- For insurance arrangements that straddle the Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland border to be given special consideration to ensure cross-border insurance contract certainty
- For the UK and EU to continue the free circulation zone, so motorists will not require Green Cards
- For the Refit of the Motor Insurance Directive to address Biba concerns
Biba said one of the biggest concerns of UK brokers was how it they could continue to help EU clients with renewals, claims handling and placement post-Brexit.
As a backstop, Biba has helped smaller brokers unable to set up costly EU-based subsidiaries by coming to an agreement with the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN).
This has enabled UK brokers to continue working on insurance arrangements with EU-based clients, but Biba said arrangement added cost and complexity.
Biba also highlighted that equivalence points in the withdrawal proposal are not relevant to brokers, so it is unlikely to be helpful in continuing access for retail customers. This is because the Insurance Distribution Directive has no provision for equivalence.
Biba stated that an extension to the Article 50 deadline would be a “welcome solution for the sake of certainty”.
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