A joint venture between Allianz and Citibank allowing mortgage brokers to refer clients to the insurer for general insurance needs is unlikely to impact insurance intermediaries, Insurance Business has been told.
Allianz Australia has joined forces with Citibank to launch a general insurance referral service to better meet the needs of mortgage brokers and their clients.
As part of the joint venture, mortgage brokers will be able to refer clients to Allianz for personal lines insurance products.
If a mortgage broker identifies Citibank as the most appropriate home loan provider for their client they will assist the client in obtaining a mortgage loan from them – and under this arrangement will also have access to Citibank insurance products, which are underwritten by Allianz.
A spokesman for Allianz Australia told Insurance Business that the new agreement would not disadvantage the insurance brokers it works with.
“This arrangement will have no impact on insurance brokers,” he said. “Brokers focus on business insurance and complex and/or tailored personal insurance needs.”
He added that most clients do not use brokers to buy general insurance products and therefore would not be impacted.
“All major insurers distribute personal insurance products directly as well as through various third-party intermediaries such as financial institutions,” they continued. “This multi-distribution approach to the sale of personal general insurance products […] does not materially impact on the business of insurance brokers because most of the people do not use insurance brokers for personal insurance products such as building and contents cover.”
