BIBA webinar - The duties of a Broker – Learnings from the Infinity Reliance Case presented by Flaxmans

An in-depth look at the Infinity Reliance judgment - the most significant decision relating to broker negligence for over 10 years. Join us as we suggest ways that brokers might foresee problems with underinsurance, and thereby protect their PI.

Learning objectives:

By the end of this webinar, delegates should be able to:

• Describe the importance and dangers of underinsurance
• Explain the scope of the Infinity judgment on the role of the broker
• Outline how a broker can best establish and record clients’ demands and needs.

Presenters: Roger Flaxman  ACII MAE and Michael Wilson  ACII SAAE

Roger’s insurance career started in September 1970 as a property fire and accident insurance broker at Leslie & Godwin, Brokers at Lloyd’s (long ago subsumed into what is now Aon), where he cut his teeth on a wide variety of international property insurances in UK, USA, Northern Europe and Scandinavia.

In the mid-1970s he migrated to the then relatively new class of insurance, professional indemnity, following upon the seminal case of Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964]; a leading case on economic loss and the duty of a professional adviser to a third party.

In the decade 1979 to 1989  at Lloyd’s broker C T Bowring (later integrated with Marsh) he became involved in the mandatory insurances of Lawyers, and the compulsory insurances for Accountants and Chartered Surveyors. He became a leading adviser to professional bodies on the developing demands and needs of protection for both the practitioners and their clients.

In the mid-1990s Roger became involved with the PI insurance of insurance brokers at Lloyd’s of London and soon thereafter with BIBA who engaged him to advise its members on broker duties, obligations and liabilities; and the management of the risks in an increasingly high-speed, high-tech sales environment.

After the financial crash in 2008, Roger’s business was in demand as a specialist claims advocacy service for policyholders in dispute with insurers about coverage.

This in turn led to increasing demand for his services as an expert to the courts; mainly in matters of insurance industry practice and broker/ agent negligence claims.

Roger is well known and respected in the industry for his independent advice and services and his special ability to get to the working heart of an insurance conundrum.

Michael entered the insurance business in the early 1970s, working in the Fire Dept of the National Employers’ Mutual (NEM).  He gained a broad knowledge of other classes of insurance and learnt the technicalities of professional indemnity insurance (PII) underwriting, with particular reference to solicitors.

He went into provincial broking in 1973 and developed a skill in providing insurances of all classes, including life insurance.  During this time, he specialised in the handling of complex claims and learnt the skill of negotiating fair settlements.  He followed closely the introduction of the country’s first commercial ombudsman scheme, the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau. 

Michael joined Flaxmans in 2013 during which time he has gained a reputation for an ability to analyse what has gone wrong when a claim has been rejected, and how an individual or business can best challenge the insurer to obtain a fair settlement.  Since 2015, he has been a member of the BIBA Claims Working Group.

Delegates participating in the accredited webinar can claim up to 1 CPD hour towards the CII member CPD scheme. A formal completion certificate will be issued for members attending and returning a feedback form.  

DISCLAIMER:

Our webinars are designed to give information and guidance and we aim to make them as accurate as we can at the time of presentation and recording. However, they may sometimes represent individual views and BIBA cannot guarantee, nor do they accept any responsibility or liability for, the accuracy or completeness of the content or for any loss which may arise from reliance on information contained within these presentations and recordings.