SG promotes proper culture and conduct amongst general insurers

The ICCSC hopes to ensure that general insurers maintain and improve professionality to grow customer’s trust.

Singapore’s Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC) unveiled guidelines aimed at ensuring general insurance (GI) intermediaries prioritise and protect customer interests. It emphasises maintaining and enhancing integrity and professionalism to foster customer trust and confidence in the sector.

Through the release of ICCSC’s fourth paper titled "Promoting Ethical Culture and Conduct in Insurance Intermediaries (General), the key focus areas in these guidelines include:

• Cooperation to Mitigate 'Rolling Bad Apples': This involves corporate GI intermediaries and insurers collaborating to prevent individuals with a history of misconduct from re-entering the industry. Measures include thorough background checks during hiring processes and establishing accountability in staff responsible for responding to reference checks.
• Prohibition of Referral or Introducer Fees: The guidelines advise against the use of sub-agents for selling general insurance policies. Insurers and GI intermediaries are encouraged to avoid practices that may lead to biased product recommendations, such as remunerating online partners based on sales or participating in pricing packages that influence product rankings or advice.
• Remuneration Practices and Agency Performance Management: The guidelines advocate for a balanced approach in reward and recognition systems, extending beyond mere financial indicators. This includes mandatory ethics, conduct, and compliance training (minimum two hours annually) and a clear process for addressing and monitoring errant behaviours.

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The ICCSC previously released three papers focusing on Human Resources, Corporate Governance, and Life Insurance Intermediaries in 2022. The release of this fourth paper follows the Inaugural Insurance Trust Indicator Study, which indicated a high level of trust in the Singapore insurance industry.

Dr. Khoo Kah Siang, the Chairperson of the ICCSC, noted positive industry feedback and an increase in involvement and accountability concerning ethics and conduct. 

Key actions taken by industry players to improve culture and conduct include:

• Enhanced risk management frameworks and policies.
• Implementation of Quality Assurance Scorecards for comprehensive performance evaluation.
• Increased communication and interaction between management and staff to establish a strong ethical tone and effective feedback mechanisms.

The ICCSC, formed in December 2019, consists of senior industry leaders and is supported by the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA), the Life Insurance Association (LIA), and the Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA).