Fair treatment, fair questions

Having talked to fellow members at The Chartered Insurance Institute Members' Roadshow, there are some questions I would like to put forward on the subject of CII code of ethics and conduct: conflicts of interest and treating customers fairly. As an insurance broker with the duty of putting the interests of the insured before all other considerations, but without being unfair to the insurers, the following matters come to mind:

Insurance is founded on the bilateral duty of utmost good faith, therefore, who is the insured's agent in the case of direct selling? Are intermediaries such as supermarkets professionally qualified to act as insurance brokers? What is the impact of dual pricing and the cost to insurance brokers caused by insurers outsourcing their regulatory requirements and other things through electronic data interchange? Should insurance brokers be employed to investigate complaints received by the Insurance Ombudsman?

John Lynch, Insurance Advisory Service.

Overheard

Apparently, businessmen who speak with Indian or Asian accents are considered to be hardworking and reliable by 69% of their peers, a higher rating than those with any other accent. Those with accents from the US are considered to be diligent by 66% of their peers, followed by those with a Scottish accent, 61%, and a Home Counties accent, 50%. By contrast, only 24% of executives consider those with a Liverpudlian accent to be hardworking, with just 29% viewing those with either a Welsh or West Country accent to be hardworking. Khalid Aziz, chairman of The Aziz Corporation, an executive communications consultancy which carried out the survey, commented: "Although it may not be politically correct to believe that accents matter nowadays, it is very apparent from our research that popular prejudices still exist. If you want to get ahead in business and don't speak the Queen's English, it is better to sound as if you are from the US, Europe, India or indeed Scotland than from any English region. Accents can speak louder than words. Even if you think like Albert Einstein, the reality is that - if you sound like Vera Duckworth - you will face prejudices in the business world."