BIBA and WBN to help members and clients post-Brexit
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | May 2018
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has reached an agreement with the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) which will facilitate the introduction of BIBA member firms to one of their member firms in an EU state in order to enable them to continue to work with EU-based clients.
WBN has at least one member operating in each EU country, which are all subject to checks on their regulatory status, said BIBA in a statement.
BIBA executive director Graeme Trudgill said, “In our survey of members last year we asked what concerns they had about the UK’s impending exit from the EU. One of the most common and worrying was the issue around continuing to help EU clients with renewals, claims handling and placement post-Brexit.
“As soon as we had the results of the survey we began looking for a solution and working with WBN is the obvious choice.”
Mr Alec Finch, a founder and board member of WBN said, “We were delighted to work with BIBA on this matter. We are still unaware of what provisions may be in place for cross-border trading and this arrangement makes perfect sense for UK-based brokers. Importantly once the introduction is made the two broking firms will have complete control of their relationship and terms of business which means they can agree a collaboration that fits the clients’ needs.”
Mr Steve White, BIBA chief executive said this important agreement will provide some certainty and continuity to BIBA members and their EU clients in the absence of a trade agreement providing access to the single market. “It’s an example of great synergy between two organisations responding to BIBA member concerns,” he said. M