Intermediary bulletin explaining NUI's position regarding freight forwarders and household removers open cover marine cargo policies.
Background
The FSA regulatory regime, which commences on 14th January 2005, will have a significant impact on the role that Forwarders and Removers can play in relation to selling marine cargo insurance.
The situation regarding Forwarders remains unclear as their trade body, B.I.F.A., is still in negotiation with the Treasury to gain exemption from regulation for their members.
However, if matters remain unchanged, and Forwarders wish to continue being directly involved in selling insurance to customers, the options available to both them and Removers are:-
- Apply to the FSA to be regulated in their own right or..
- Become an Appointed Representative of their Intermediary or..
- Become an Appointed Representative of their Insurer..
Our Proposal
It seems likely that, for the majority of stakeholders, these options will not be viable. Norwich Union's position is that we will not accept responsibility for third parties on an Appointed Representative basis.
Our proposal involves the Forwarder/Remover becoming an Introducer Appointed Representative of the Intermediary. This has the following advantages:-
It enables the Forwarder/Remover to provide customers with a contact point to arrange insurance.
The Intermediary continues to provide a service to their Forwarder/Remover customers.
Regulatory responsibility on the Intermediary is minimized.
Next Steps
We will shortly commence issuing Thirty Day Notices of Cancellation on our Forwarder and Remover Open Cover policies in line with policy conditions.
In the very near future, we will contact you to discuss reinstatement of cover along the lines proposed. Plesse contact your local Marine Account Manager if you have any queries in the interim.