Insurance Commission what is standard?

Nelson – I know that I said my last post would be my final one on this subject for the time being, but your post was so informative that I just couldn’t help myself, so I have just a few observations / comments.

I like your idea that a Strata Manager who acts as an Agent for Insurer/s should hold the same accreditation as a Broker providing that same service, and in my opinion that should apply to the individuals concerned and not just to their Licensees, and the actual commission ($) should be shown on the Policy and not be buried (as a %) in a Schedule to the Strata Management Agency Agreement.

I must state at the outset that I’m not tarring all Strata Managers with the same brush, but rather am speaking only to what our Plan (in NSW) has experienced. That said, if all Strata Managers acted as advocates for their Owners Corporations instead of simply steering them in the direction of the Insurer/s for whom they’re Agents, and really did provide those Insurers with administrative support of the types you describe, then I could understand the current commission structure.

Apart perhaps for claims history, our previous Strata Managers had little if any knowledge of or skills to assess our Plan’s “risk” or so far as I’m aware have any input to the assessment of our premiums, and with at that time (2007) over thirty (30) Plans to individually manage, how could they?

We’ve only lodged two (2) small insurance claims over the past nine (9) years, in 2007 when we had a Strata Manager and in 2012 when we were self-managed (as now), and apart from when our Strata Manager lodged the claim, in both instances the process was identical; I was the liaison and there was never any involvement by an Assessor – pre or post those claims being accepted.

Without engaging in self-aggrandisement, although I rarely used them I hold the qualifications (and accreditation/s) necessary to conduct workplace and environmental assessments, and therefore did both of those on our Common Property (in 2005) as a free service to our Owners Corporation (O/C); that of course includes me!  Our O/C has reviewed progress on the documented risk assessment, the bi-annual updates to that, and on our prioritised action plan at every AGM since, but none of that is of any interest to our Insurers in terms of it better assessing our Plan’s “risk” and thereby arriving at a “better” premium (read: < $6.5K/27 Lots). Our O/C has and continues to do everything that a Strata Manager should do (and more) with regard to proving it’s a low-risk, cooperative client who’s easy to do business with, and we’re anxious to engage a Broker who, with the benefit of all the information we hold to support our position, would recommend the most appropriate level of cover, at the best premium. We’d even be prepared to pay that Broker some of the $1.5K commission that would otherwise be payable to a Strata Manager for doing very much less. If you provide that type of independent service (i.e covering a range of Insurers), we’re interested! Thanks again for your informative post.