[Education - CPD] Property Owners Insurance

Property Owners Insurance – an update with a laser focus

Whether it is residential or commercial, the whole area of Property Owners’ is always not far from the press and wide stakeholder scrutiny – what can brokers and insurers alike now do to regain trust now that the size of the market has reduced which reduces competition and creates a “seller’s market” completely contra to FCA objectives?

We have had new rules on the residential leasehold side for 2.5 years, but in a soft market, how exactly do LHs benefit and is it OK for some brokers to expect/demand greater commissions for supposed work transfer (and how do you evidence this?).  When can a broker share commissions with managing agents and how will this be of benefit to the LH?  Further, what is an acceptable commission these days as we have transparency and commission disclosure and onerous fair value assessments to think about and all of this is still challengeable in the courts (and has been for over 40 years).

We had new legislation in 2024 and the government has undertaken further recent consultation so we wait to hear what will be allowed under a “permitted insurance payment” which could ban commission sharing with PMAs and ensure ultra-transparency when it comes to LH insurance arrangements.  The power positions are shifting, and in an increasingly soft market, the pressure is on to achieve growth - this makes it more likely that those that hold the compliance line will lose business to more unscrupulous players in the market

When it comes to commercial, the Trocadero case in the High Court saw the property owner being ordered to repay over £600,000 worth of commissions.  These had been paid to him by various brokers over the years because the terms of the lease did not allow for the tenant to pay the PO, via the broker, large sums of money to insure their own property.

Learning objectives - by the end of this event you will have gained an insight into:

•       What are the key issues regulatory issues when it comes to Property Owners’ insurance;

•       What has to be done to ensure leaseholders are a critical part of the picture;

•       When it comes to commercial insurances, what are the concerns?