The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has warned that the lack of a clear agreement on cross-border trade following Brexit could pose a severe threat to the business models of thousands of UK insurance brokers.

In this regard, BIBA has appealed for urgent progress to be made with the new EU free trade agreement in light of the initiation of article 50 by the UK government.

The association believes that UK’s number one rank in the European insurance market is at threat following the initiation of Brexit by Prime Minister Theresa May.

BIBA said that the UK market is staring at a huge uncertainty while 2,758 insurance brokers with passports to trade in the EU are likely to be impacted by the Brexit developments.

The association has appealed to the UK government to secure mutual tariff-free access in EU.

BIBA CEO Steve White said: “The UK’s number one position in the European insurance market and the business model of nearly three thousand UK firms is under serious threat if we do not have barrier-free, tariff-free access to the EU market including some form of passporting model and regulatory equivalence.

“Therefore, as Theresa May invokes Article 50 we call on her to deliver what she stated in her Lancaster House speech – the greatest possible access to the EU through a bold free trade agreement.”

According to BIBA executive director Graeme Trudgill, there is a need for a free trade agreement to be nailed down for the UK insurance industry to protect jobs and revenue in the country.

Trudgill said that nearly 6,000 EU-based insurance intermediaries have passports to do business in the UK with several accessing the London insurance market. This, he says represents a genuine requirement for mutual market access between the UK and the EU.

In a separate development, BIBA has introduced a new resolution facility to address large and complex claims dubbed as Mactavish Claims Guidance & Resolution, in partnership with the insurance governance expert, Mactavish.


Image: BIBA has appealed for a bold free trade agreement between the UK and EU. Photo: courtesy of BIBA.