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NIBA president Tim Wedlock took to the stage earlier this week to update brokers on what was happening within the association – and he also revealed a pet peeve which many industry professionals are likely to be guilty of.
“I’m very passionate and very proud of our profession, what we do, and what we stand for – and even more humbled to be the president of NIBA,” Wedlock told attendees at the Steadfast conference.
“I reckon everybody in this room is very proud of their own businesses and what they stand for, I certainly am,” he continued.
“I get a lot of delight going to schools and universities promoting careers in insurance, I think it’s a wonderful thing – but I do get very aggravated when people continue to say they fell into insurance.”
While Wedlock said it was still a common utterance among brokers, he also said the pattern was shifting as more young people now appreciate what the industry can offer.
“Change is happening because people recognise that there is a lot of opportunity with careers in insurance,” he said.
Wedlock also used the opportunity to let brokers know what was happening behind the scenes at the professional association – including an update on its code of practice.
“From a NIBA point of view, we’ve got a bloody good code of practice, it’s there and it’s well respected and if we weren’t reviewing it every three years to make sure it’s right, then we could be in a tricky situation,” he said, pointing to the recent add-on insurance scandal as a prime example.
“This is not a go at the insurance companies, but it goes to show the importance of what the code of practice is versus just some paperwork,” he said. “The add-on insurance that they’ve been slammed about, that was a breach of their own code of practice.”
Wedlock also confirmed the association has been looking at the possibility of raising minimum standards of education to a diploma of insurance broking with ASIIC and was in the process of consulting with industry leaders.
“It’s nothing to do with trying to get more money out of education, that’s not it at all,” he said. “It’s to make sure we’re seen as a true profession so people look up to us and recognise us the same way as they do accounting and legal.”
