083: The BIBA Manifesto’s Past Achievements and New Aims with Graeme Trudgill

People in Insurance: Changing the Conversation

Are you a broker keen for your voice to be heard but unsure what channels to use? Are you interested in BIBA membership but unclear about what benefits it can bring for you?

In this week’s episode, we’re very pleased to be speaking with Graeme Trudgill, Executive Director of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) about the group’s annual manifesto. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, Graeme elucidates how BIBA collates the concerns of its members over the course of each year, and communicates them to government every January, bringing the concerns of insurance brokers to the forefront of British politics and enabling their voices to be heard. He subsequently explains how BIBA endeavours to achieve the aims established in its manifesto through collaboration with the government, shareholders, and various other organisations. If you need an incentive to join BIBA, look no further and listen to find out why you should!

Quote of the Episode

“BIBA is here purely to serve its members… Someone has to be the voice of insurance brokers. And that's us. And we like to think that with the committees and the hundreds of brokers that are involved as volunteers with BIBA, we have the right issues, the right understanding, to take those forward to government.”

BIBA is a hugely collaborative organisation which seeks to respond to the concerns of its members and the problems they are facing in a timely and effective manner. It is, as Graeme describes it, ‘at the centre of the insurance broking universe’ in the UK, and therefore has significant lobbying power with the government to assuage the issues facing BIBA members. It has no minimum levels of support, and no minimum requirements for membership. Everyone is welcome to join, and the agency it provides is significant, enabling all members to be part of the broader conversation about how broking can and should be conducted, and how the sector’s greatest crises can be dealt with. You don’t just join BIBA, you join in.

Key Takeaways

The BIBA manifesto aims to make the needs and concerns of insurance brokers heard by the government. BIBA listens to members from all across the country, across various specialisms, collates responses, and uses them to curate a document that can help to find a right path with the relevant people to solve these problems. It’s an annual manifesto, restarted from scratch at the start of every year, thereby ensuring that the most prevalent issues are always at the top of the list.

After the manifesto is announced, BIBA aims to work collaboratively with the relevant parties in order to achieve what brokers want, and to deliver solutions beneficial to the general public and companies who are struggling with their insurance cover. Graeme highlights the FCA’s rules for brokers that seem to negatively impact on growth and competitiveness, which is contrary to the government’s pursuit of economic growth. Hence, BIBA is calling for proportionate regulation for insurance brokers. Additionally, BIBA has also sought reform of the financial services compensation scheme, which insurance brokers have unfairly paid a significant amount into despite never exceeding its own pot. The FCA this year reduced the scheme’s call on the insurance broking sector from £68 million to £5 million this year. However, Graeme notes that the funding model still needs a permanent change. As such, the BIBA manifesto is concerned with long-lasting change rather than short solutions.

However, the changes that BIBA is frequently campaigning for such as those outlined above cannot be implemented overnight. During times of political turbulence like those observed over the past few years, the pursuit of its goals can become more difficult. However, Graeme assures that BIBA endeavours to maintain a good relationship with the government and the treasury department in particular, whose members tend to remain in their positions for longer periods of time.

The 2023 BIBA manifesto will aim to tackle a mountain of insurance issues, namely the hard market, underinsurance, the cost of doing business crisis, and the insufficient take-up of cyber insurance. However, it also seeks to tackle a non-insurance issue: the departure of a significant number of brokers from the sector since the pandemic. BIBA is seeking to breathe new life into the sector by recruiting from the next generation of university and school leavers, to educate young people about the benefits of working as brokers. For those of us who sometimes forget what an exciting industry we work in, perhaps now is the time to join BIBA, and to get involved in the conversation about the future of broking.

Best Moments/Key Quotes

“The manifesto kicks off our annual contact programme for the whole year ahead, and just sets all those meetings running so that we can take the issues forward with us. So, it's a really good way of getting things moving for brokers.”

“We try to match the government narrative of the day. So, if it's growth, then we try to make lots of the manifesto themed around growth, so that we're working collaboratively. For us, it's all about partnerships and how you can progress those partnerships to achieve those ultimate aims that we want for our members. And our members only want to do their best for their customers. So, it's in everyone's interest to work collaboratively.”

“We try to put together guidance when anything comes along, when things happen, and respond accordingly.”

Resources

The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) - https://www.biba.org.uk/

Join BIBA - https://insurance.biba.org.uk/join-biba

Insurance trade associations develop fair value assessment template - https://www.biba.org.uk/press-releases/collaboration-assessment-template/

Fair Value Assessment Template Form - https://www.biba.org.uk/tag/template-assesment-form/

BIBA & Allianz create underinsurance guide - https://www.biba.org.uk/press-releases/biba-works-with-allianz-to-create-a-new-guide-to-help-reduce-the-risk-of-underinsurance/

BIBA Guides - https://www.allianz.co.uk/news-and-insight/insight-and-expertise/biba-guides.html

About the Guest

Graeme Trudgill is the Executive Director of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), where he oversees its public affairs activity with the government, which extends to regulators and other stakeholders. He also oversees BIBA’s technical department, which supports members on real insurance issues, and the comms team, which keeps people informed about BIBA’s activities.

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation