Letters : Norwich Union terms

There has been much criticism of Norwich Union's (NU) "new" terms of business agreements in Insurance Times over the past few weeks and I feel it necessary to set the record straight.

Where historically a registered broker had requested a terms of business agreement, he would have been sent a new terms of business agreement.

Where a broker had previously traded under our terms of appointment, he would have been sent a new terms of appointment letter. The fact of the matter is that some brokers had previously not requested a terms of business agreement and had, as such, operated under a terms of appointment - ordinarily for agents rather than brokers.

Consequently they received the same terms they had previously had with us. No one was sent something that they had not previously accepted and any broker is encouraged to request our terms of business agreement.

Historically, not everyone had taken the opportunity to do so and that's why they didn't receive a replacement when we undertook this recent mailing.

It is also important to understand that NU has not disadvantaged any intermediaries as a result of this exercise, brought about by the repeal of the IBRA.

Rest assured that there are no new clauses. No existing terms have been altered and to suggest otherwise is simply untrue.

Finally, I would take the opportunity to point out that NU remains committed to this distribution channel and any suggestion that we plan to "hijack" business from brokers for our direct operation is absolute nonsense.
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Ken Wallace
Intermediary business director
Norwich Union