Biba's incoming chairman George Nixon has issued a call to arms to brokers to use their collective might to fight for better service and commercial standards from insurers.
Nixon, who is vice-chairman of Willis, will take over the Biba job on July 12. But he has told Insurance Times that he intends to marshal his troops.
"Brokers need to exercise more control over their business than they have in the past – to some extent the insurers have dominated. It is important that brokers should try to influence the insurers. We at Biba have a very close relationship with these insurers but our membership should have some large leverage with them," he says.
Nixon will also give brokers the skills not just to survive but to flourish. He wants Biba to provide discounted management consultancy to firms to help them improve their businesses. He says brokers often cannot afford to buy the consultancy themselves and rely on "not really suitable" help from insurers.
"If it is useful for Willis, Marsh and Aon to use management consultants then it sure as hell must be useful to the small broker," he says.
Nixon also wants to raise the public profile of professional insurance
brokers.
