description
An insurance broker sources (brokes)
contracts of insurance on behalf of their customers.
The term Insurance Broker became a regulated term under
the Insurance Brokers (Registration) Act 1977 which was
designed to thwart the bogus practices of firms holding
themselves as brokers but in fact acting as
representative of one or more favored insurance
companies.
Insurance brokerage is largely associated with general
insurance (car, house etc.) rather than life insurance,
although some brokers continued to provide investment
and life insurance brokerage until the onset of more
onerous Financial Services Authority regulation in 2001.
Insurance broking is carried out today by many types of
organizations including traditional brokerages,
Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) and telephone or
web-based firms. |
