The Australian Registrars' National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) has confirmed to the
MFAA that brokers will be exempt from the proposed changes to professional indemnity insurance cover.
Last week, Australian Broker reported on the MFAA’s lobbying efforts to stop ARNECC’s proposal to increase professional indemnity insurance to $20 million in the aggregate, from a current figure of $2 million per claim and up to $6 million in the aggregate. The MFAA was concerned that, if passed, it would be a significant cost for broker businesses and could harm broker/client relationships.
“Although there has been some difference of opinion about the breadth of the impact, we take the issue seriously whether it impacts 1 broker or 10,000. We regard all brokers as important so we acted immediately,” MFAA CEO, Siobhan Hayden said.
Since then, leading lobbyist group Hawker Britton – which was appointed by the MFAA to assist with the issue – sat down with the deputy chair of ARNECC, Ian Ireson, who confirmed the changes will not apply to brokers.
“I was really impressed by the actions of the MFAA members who communicated their desire to support this action with letters and emails to elected representatives and directly to ARNECC. They took on the task of delivering an industry-wide voice through direct action, and it had an impact, as the deputy chairman made contact with our lobbyist who agreed to sit down and hear our case for greater involvement,” Hayden said.
“The meeting was completed last week with a commitment from the ARNECC Deputy Chairman to confirm in writing that these changes do not apply to finance brokers. This is a real win for the profession and we will share that letter with the broker industry once received so that you can keep this on file should it be necessary.”
