Changes in Victoria to the domestic building insurance market will impact both brokers and clients as the Government has revealed a new distribution model.
Under the changes, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) has revealed that a panel of six distributors will be used to give access and become a point of access for both brokers and builders on DBI-related matters. The six distributors are Arthur J.
Gallagher, Bovill Risk & insurance Consultants, CCM Insurance Group, HIA Insurance Services, Insurance House, and MBA Insurance Services.
Brokers outside the six distributors will still have a place in the market but the process for placing cover will change as they will help clients choose a distributor.
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“Brokers can work with their client to support them in choosing a DBI Distributor, as well as gaining consent from them on purchasing and managing their DBI in the future,” VMIA said in a recent statement.
The Government has also announced the launch of a new online portal, called BuildVic, which will allow both brokers and builders to access cover more easily.
Bradley Day, a construction broker at Insurance House, said that the changes will improve efficiency and accessibility for clients as other brokers still have a vital role to play.
“For a broker, they can assist their builders to nominate a distributor, they can act on behalf of the builder and negotiate with that distributor, provide all the documentation, and still issue certificates,” Day told Insurance Business. “The builder has the ability to access their portal from anywhere, from the office to onsite on a mobile phone, and to generate a warranty certificate which will hopefully streamline the process and make it a lot easier for builders.”
Changes come into effect on July 01.
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