Willis says Aon deep in morass

Willis says Aon’s decision to resume accepting contingent commissions “where appropriate and legally permissible” takes broking “deeper into the morass”.

Willis claimed it was the world’s only insurance broker to refuse to accept contingents in its retail business.

“Aon’s overdue and muted announcement, floated in mid-summer, should come as a wake-up call to all risk managers and buyers of insurance to re-evaluate whether their broker really works for them, or the insurance carrier,” it said.

Legally permissible

“Offering opaque statements about doing what is ‘legally permissible,’ another competitor has opted to put contingents before principle. Willis puts clients before contingents.

“Clients’ best interests are served when their brokers work for them, and only them, with standards of service based on ethics and integrity, not merely on what’s ‘legally permissible’, “ Willis said. Willis described contingent commissions as “back door payments”.

“A retail broker cannot serve two masters. They either represent the client or the carrier, but they can’t do both,” Willis said. “The recent history of broker behaviour and regulatory oversight in the insurance industry is not a proud one.

Conflict of interest

“The permissive rules that have fostered rampant conflicts of interest have returned and, with them, an industry environment that’s headed deeper into a morass and bound for more trouble when “legally permissible” is the new standard of excellence.

“Our industry can do much better by its clients, and clients should demand better from their brokers.