Conflict of interest

GM228

Just curious.

Do insurance companies have any conflict of interests rules?

For example an underwriter or claims assessor looking for insurance with their own insurance company, do they allow such?

wonski

As long as they don't work on their own claims I don't see any conflict.

I wouldn't be surprised if some employees got discount or a free policy as a part of their package.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Insurance staff are highly regulated as individuals. There is little scope for anything unethical and very strict rules on the handling of own policies. You wouldn't be allowed, for instance, do a temporary change of vehicles on your own policy or that of a family member.

NUTLEY BOY

Also, this is exactly the kind of matter that both external and internal audit should pick up.

I am not in the insurance world but I understand that those with various insurance qualifications and chartered titles are actually bound by formal codes of ethics and practice.

Some insurance practitioners with whom I have dealt inform me that they fit in the practice of insurance around the heavy strangulations of compliance.

Sue Pa Key Pa

A simple example is that my PC leaves a trail of the time and date of every file that I have ever looked at, let alone altered. Someone involved in the Commercial Department, for instance, has no access to claim files. You will be pulled up by the compliance officer if any unauthorised use is attempted

coylemj

GM228 wrote: »

Just curious.

Do insurance companies have any conflict of interests rules?

For example an underwriter or claims assessor looking for insurance with their own insurance company, do they allow such?

At some stage in the 1980s, the Hibernian Insurance Co. (now part of Aviva Ireland) was moving their head office operation from an upper floor in Hawkins House to a newly rented premises on Haddington Road, opposite the '51' pub. A reasonably complex and potentially risky part of the move involved an IBM mainframe which had to be taken apart into manageable units, taken down the lift, transported to the new office and reassembled.

As a precaution against any expensive accidents, the head of IT asked the brokers who acted for Hibernian to arrange insurance cover for the move. The move went smoothly so there was no claim but somebody discovered a few weeks later that the broker had arranged the cover with.... Hibernian Insurance!

Sue Pa Key Pa

coylemj wrote:

As a precaution against any expensive accidents, the head of IT asked the brokers who acted for Hibernian to arrange insurance cover for the move. The move went smoothly so there was no claim but somebody discovered a few weeks later that the broker had arranged the cover with.... Hibernian Insurance!

A Machinery Movement policy is a very specialised cover and Hibernian / Aviva would have been the market leaders along with RSA. A premium would have been paid like any other client. The risk would have been reinsured to spread any loss if it occurred.

Insurers are large property owners and they usually take out co-insurance policies where a share of the cover is spread between a panel of local and international insurers

galwaytt

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Insurance staff are highly regulated as individuals. There is little scope for anything unethical and very strict rules on the handling of own policies. You wouldn't be allowed, for instance, do a temporary change of vehicles on your own policy or that of a family member.

No they're not. I had the misfortune of being hit by a person working for an insurance company a few years ago. Wanted it sorted off the books, which was fine except when push came to shove she tried to force me to pay for car hire for her, despite she causing the accident. I said no, go through insurance and she wrote to me, as a claimant, from her work (insurance company) email to put pressure on me. Then left me dangling for an engineer for 7 weeks to assess my vehicle.....but magically her car was fixes and back on the road within a week of the accident.
I refuted their assessor report as they never interviewed any of witnesses. Didn't do me any good : we were both insured by same company so i got screwed over.

Fraudsters inside the industry too.

galwaytt

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Insurance staff are highly regulated as individuals. There is little scope for anything unethical and very strict rules on the handling of own policies. You wouldn't be allowed, for instance, do a temporary change of vehicles on your own policy or that of a family member.

No they're not. I had the misfortune of being hit by a person working for an insurance company a few years ago. Wanted it sorted off the books, which was fine except when push came to shove she tried to force me to pay for car hire for her, despite she causing the accident. I said no, go through insurance and she wrote to me, as a claimant, from her work (insurance company) email to put pressure on me. Then left me dangling for an engineer for 7 weeks to assess my vehicle.....but magically her car was fixes and back on the road within a week of the accident.
I refuted their assessor report as they never interviewed any of witnesses. Didn't do me any good : we were both insured by same company sonic got screwed over.

Fraudsters inside the industry too.

wonski

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

A simple example is that my PC leaves a trail of the time and date of every file that I have ever looked at, let alone altered. Someone involved in the Commercial Department, for instance, has no access to claim files. You will be pulled up by the compliance officer if any unauthorised use is attempted

Like most companies do, I have a limited access to some files etc. Some I won't even be able to alter because I can't see them.

Let's just say I sell tomatoes

Not in insurance business anyway. Nothing special in your example tbh.

Sue Pa Key Pa

wonski wrote:

Not in insurance business anyway. Nothing special in your example tbh.

The consequences are different in that if you are found to be in breach of The Regulators protocols, you are unlikely to find an employer in the industry ever again