What of insurance brokers?

insurance brokers?

By Bernadette Hussein

The trend worldwide and in Fiji, in particu lar - is towards reduc

ing insurance premi

ums, says insurance broker Marsh and McLennan.

Director Paul Wilkins said this was due to a general oversupply of capital in the insurance market. This was particu larly true of the reinsurance market, which has allowed insurance companies

What of insurance brokers?

to obtain more favourable reinsurance protection and pass these benefits on to policy holders. As insurance broker, the work of the company is to get into the situation after a loss and settle claims as quickly as possible.

For example, after the destruction left behind in Fiji by Cyclone Gavin earlier this year, the company was quick to come on the scene to provide and set tle the necessary claims. Wilkins said that a number of island resorts on the western side of the country were great ly affected and the losses were big.

“There will be over two months of rebuilding which may cost over SFO.S million ($U5350,000). Finance is not a problem - it’s just that we want to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible and make sure there is not much interruption to business.” For hotels and resorts, an area of concern is the reluctance by the local insurance market to provide cyclone coverage unless properties have engineers’ cer tificates, and then the wording is nor mally restricted to exclude factors such as sea surges, sandblasting and proper ties in the open.

Wilkins said it could be seen that the term “cyclone coverage” could mean a number of things and it was important that clients were fully aware of what was covered or, more importantly, what was not covered. “In cases where broader coverage is required or where clients do not have an engineer’s certifi cate, we have entered into an arrange ment with a number of overseas insur ers to provide coverage at much more favourable terms than have recently been available, subject to certain mini mum criteria,” Wilkins said.

Another area of concern for the peo ple of Fiji is that insurance companies do not pay for water damage that might have occurred through a leakage. But, Wilkins added, as insurance brokers, they made sure their clients knew exact ly what they were covered for. We tailor policies for individual needs, he said.

“People experience such problems

when they go directly to insurance com panies. If they go through a broker they will have a fair idea of what they are paying for.”

The company also advises on risk management as well as deals with cor porate or group insurance. It is in the

process of putting together a life and medi cal scheme at the request of the Fiji Public Service Commission for parliamentarians.

The brokers also operate in Papua New Guinea, which is its biggest insurance mar ket in the Pacific because of its size and resources. And, because of the country’s politically unstable atmosphere, insurance companies there provide cover for riots and strikes as well. Marsh and McLennan’s global network allows it to call on the tech nical and marketing expertise of the world wide group. “For example, if we have a par ticularly difficult or unusual insurance or

risk-management problem in Fiji, we can tap into our worldwide resources in search of solutions,” Wilkins said. At the end of January, Marsh and McLennan Limited announced it had purchased CECAR, the second largest insurance broker in France.

They had gross revenues in 1996 of approx imately SUSI3S million and 900 employees in 18 countries worldwide.

In February, it was announced that Marsh and McLennan were in formal discussion with ST Paul relating to a purchase of at least part of their Minet worldwide broking

operations. Negotiations are continuing. ■