FAREWELL FROM DIANNE PHELAN

Dianne reflects on her history with NIBA, and the exciting initiatives reshaping insurance broking that she hopes to see in the years to come.

A Long History With Niba

I first became involved with NIBA around 30 years ago, when the Under 35 Committee (now called the Young Professionals Committee) was first forming. My manager at the time was a Divisional Committee member and he encouraged me to join the Under 35 Committee.

Back in those days, there were very few women in the industry who had the opportunity to do these things. In the workplace, it was very common for me to walk into a room full of males. The industry has progressed a long way since then but at that time, this was really an opportunity for me to put my hand up.

From there, I went on to the SA Divisional Committee. I eventually took a 10-year break while my children were growing up, then was approached by Martin Luck, Chair of the NIBA SA Divisional Committee at the time, who asked if I’d like to rejoin the Committee. My kids were older by then, so I decided to take up his offer, and the rest is history.

I’ve been involved with NIBA throughout the last 30 years because I’ve always wanted to give back to the industry. To work with NIBA’s Divisional Committees and the young people coming through the industry is a really fulfilling opportunity.

There is also the satisfaction in knowing I’ve been able to help in some small way, which is the very essence of insurance broking.

Being NIBA President has really reinforced in me the importance of insurance broking and the role of an insurance broker in our daily lives. I always say to people that insurance and the writing of the policy are crucial, but the value of an insurance broker is often only realised when you help someone once something has gone wrong.

Helping others is what we do, all day every day, and our role really requires a desire to help and serve people in crucial times. It’s what makes insurance broking such a worthy and fulfilling career. Beyond this, I also believe what you learn and get back from others throughout that journey can be far more valuable than what you give.

Committee discussions over the years have given me the opportunity to hear other people’s views on particular topics and issues that I might have never considered before. Working with different types of brokers on the Committee has also exposed me to the way international brokers work as opposed to local suburban brokers. It has been such a valuable way to build information and knowledge around all facets of insurance, which has in turn inspired me to improve my own work.

Despite working in insurance broking for over 40 years, I still learn things every day from working in our profession and being involved with NIBA.

Key Highlights Throughout My Presidency

There are several highlights that I’ll be taking away with me through my term as NIBA President.

One of them is seeing Philip Kewin successfully transition into the role of NIBA CEO, and be able to achieve this seamlessly. Securing Phil was a joint effort shared by all Directors and it’s a credit to everyone that we were able to find such a worthy replacement for Dallas Booth.

Another highlight is having the opportunity to represent the Australian insurance industry at the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (WFII) meetings in Amsterdam earlier in June.

The third highlight for me is releasing the updated Insurance Brokers Code of Practice, and now updating the NIBA Constitution. These are the key mechanisms that will ensure we have the right platform to do things better moving forward.

One of the exciting things to come from the new Code is the Terms of Engagement template. While some brokers have interpreted this as another compliance document, this was never the intention. While NIBA has released a Terms of Engagement template, using this as a starting point to create a simple document designed to help clarify what we do for our clients will hopefully become something that clients will value in the future.

As insurance brokers, we don’t promote what we do very well. We are humble and like to get the job done with as little fuss as possible. We often don’t educate our clients on the work that occurs in the background – that we spend hours, sometimes weeks, researching and going to various markets trying to get the best outcome possible, poring over variations and comparisons in policy wordings to make sure the cover is as broad as possible, and securing the most competitive premium.

We tend to stick the end product in front of our clients and tell them that this is what we recommend. A lot of what we do is hidden, and it’s only when clients have a claim that they understand how valuable all that work is.

The Terms of Engagement template is designed to be the vehicle for us to start discussing our value and articulating the work we do for our clients. This is a document for brokers to also understand their own value proposition. I think that if brokers can embrace the Terms of Engagement document, it can be a really powerful way to educate clients and spread the word on what we do.

Having this document across our profession will also make it much easier for clients to compare the services of brokers. Many clients compare brokers and their recommendations on price alone and think this is the extent of the differentiation. Often when things don’t go right, it’s because clients have moved between brokers who offer different services, not understanding that a broker’s value proposition can be different from another’s, and this can eventually turn into a complaint.

Once it becomes standard practice, I think the Terms of Engagement document will be an important tool for clients to understand exactly what they will receive from different brokers, which will enable them to make informed decisions.

Exciting Opportunities Ahead For Niba

There are several things I hope to see from NIBA in the coming years.

The outcomes of the Quality of Advice Review are among the most immediate things we need to focus on for next year.

It would also be great for the NIBA Board and incoming President to work more closely with Divisional Committees to identify and work together on the state issues they each may be facing.

As a national association, I believe it’s important for us to build greater awareness of these issues that may have implications for insurance broking and in turn, our clients. We have worked really well with Divisional Committees on issues such as the WA workers’ compensation scheme –which is unique to WA – as well as the NSW Emergency Services Levy (ESL). Some of these are long-term projects where the success hasn’t materialised yet, but that doesn’t mean we should give up trying to find new ways to make an impact.

Another initiative I’d love to see is for NIBA to work with stakeholders to provide better outcomes in catastrophe situations moving forward. We’ve started the discussion on this topic and I’m sure we can work together to provide better client outcomes. A few years ago, the NIBA Board had planned a trip to bushfire-affected areas, where we could provide support on the ground. We were all very excited about this initiative, but unfortunately the pandemic soon hit and we had to cancel the trip.

Climate risks are also not going away – it’s good to hear more conversations on alternative solutions such as parametrics, but we still have a long way to go.

For the future of our profession, we need to think more broadly. Historical insurance products aren’t necessarily going to be sustainable in the years to come.

More time also needs to be devoted to entrepreneurial thinking around these products. Brokers are not the supplier of those products, but we need to be able to partner with insurers who are willing to think outside the box. Solutions don’t always need to come from overseas – it can come from here too if we have willing partners.

This is a challenge that also provides a really exciting opportunity for all of us to expand our thinking around how we can continue to add value on clients.

Our profession is in a critical time of change right now.

It would be really great to see NIBA take up this initiative again, and for us to work with other industry stakeholders to create better outcomes for when catastrophes hit.

A client’s poor experience arising from a catastrophe is often outside of the broker’s control, but as an industry, I’m confident we can do this better. These catastrophes aren’t going away, and are likely to only increase in the future. The unrelenting floods last year have certainly proved that.

There is great work we can do here by collaborating with other stakeholders, and I’m excited to see NIBA take on a more active role in this space.

RE-WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR INSURANCE BROKING

The economy at the moment will mean that clients will continue to suffer hardships. There’s no doubt that this is going to be our biggest challenge over the next 12 months.

When I reflect on the strategic review of insurance broking we completed a couple of years ago, I’m still confident that insurance broking will be very different in 2025 compared to today.

Right now, we’re at a crucial stage of that journey towards 2025, where we have huge opportunities to redefine what we do.

This is our chance to get involved in exciting initiatives and to think outside the box on what risk management will look like in the future.

At the end of the day, our role is to help clients understand and manage their risks. The insurance policy is simply the end by-product of risk minimisation, and on its own, the policy does not eliminate the risk. There is still, and there always will be, risk management to be done.

As insurance brokers, we’re here for our clients. This means we aren’t restricted by insurance products. We can be far more entrepreneurial in our thinking around what insurance broking should look like, and the partners we need to help us provide the solutions of the future.

This is what makes this a really exciting time for insurance brokers. If we can do this right, we’ll be far more relevant than we ever have been.