In its submission to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman’s Insurance Inquiry, the FPA has called out the absence of Government support for affordable professional indemnity (PI) insurance cover for small advice businesses.
The FPA said that the advice PI insurance market was “built for large licensees,” which in itself is symptomatic of the AFSL regime’s “bedding-down under the Financial Service Reform Act 2001.” Historically, the submission noted, AFSLs were held by “large financial services institutions who authorised financial planners provide financial advice to consumers under their license.”
As a result of this, the PI offering from insurers has traditionally been designed for large institutions; the value to the insurance business has been in “large licensee [policies]. It was not built for small businesses to hold their own policy.”
The FPA said that for the average small advice licensee, PI insurance costs around 2-3% of business revenue. And in 99% of cases, PI premiums increase year-on-year, irrespective of the individual business’s claims history.
Part of the cost comes from the fact that, according to the FPA, insurers don’t differentiate the risk presented by “large licensees with large numbers of authorised representatives” and small advice businesses with significantly fewer authorised representatives. “Small financial planning firms,” the FPA added, “have been informed by insurers that large premium increases are due to the broader market.”
There are other issues, though. The submission noted that the market for advice PI insurance “continues to be difficult and unprofitable for most insurers,” which has led to insurers and underwriters leaving the space. This has had the effect of reducing competition in the market, which the FPA said “significantly impacts the affordability and availability of appropriate cover.”
In these circumstances, the FPA has argued that smaller businesses are bearing the brunt of increasing PI costs for advice, obligated as they are to hold “adequate levels of cover,” per Section 912B of the Corporations Act 2001.
Separately, the FPA also noted “media reports and warnings from governments and regulators” regarding increased threats of cyber-attacks in financial services.
This compounds the above problems for many advice businesses as there is currently confusion about the different insurance policies covering cyber-risk and data breaches “and the value of such cover for small business on top of policies already held.” In our latest season of After Hours, we discuss cyber-risk in financial services in more detail.
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