Understanding Our Pricing and Fees at FD Beck Insurance Brokers
At FD Beck Insurance Brokers, we are committed to transparent and clear communication, especially when it comes to how we are remunerated for the valuable services we provide. We want you to have a complete understanding of the costs involved in securing and managing your insurance protection. This page outlines our approach to pricing and fees, ensuring you are fully informed every step of the way.
How We Are Remunerated for Our Services
As your dedicated insurance broker, our primary role is to act on your behalf to help you identify and assess your risks and then source appropriate general insurance solutions from the broader market. Our remuneration for these services typically involves a combination of commission from insurers and a fee directly from you.
1. Commission from Insurers
For many insurance products, the insurer pays us a commission. This commission is usually calculated as a percentage of the base premium you pay for your insurance policy, which excludes government taxes, charges, and levies.
- Commission Range:
Our commission rates from insurers can vary, generally falling within a range of 0% to 26.5% of the base premium. The specific percentage we receive can depend on factors such as the type of insurance product, the insurer, and the complexity of the placement.
- When Commission is Earned:
We become entitled to this commission at the point when we arrange or issue the insurance product for you, following your instructions.
- Premium Handling:
When you pay your premium to us, it is deposited into our trust account. From this account, we retain our commission and then remit the remaining balance to the insurer in accordance with our arrangements with them. Please note that we may earn interest or a return on the premium while it is held in our trust account, and we retain any such earnings.
2. Fees Payable Directly by You
In addition to or instead of commission from insurers, we charge you a direct fee for our services. Any such fees will always be clearly itemised on the invoice we send to you.
Why We Charge a Separate Fee:
We may apply a fee in situations where the commission received from the insurer does not adequately cover the complexity, time, and expertise required to provide you with comprehensive broking services. Factors that influence our decision to apply a fee, and the amount of that fee, include:
For businesses or individuals with highly specialised, unusual, or complex risk profiles, the effort involved in understanding your needs, approaching multiple markets, negotiating bespoke policy wordings, and managing your insurance program can be extensive. A fee ensures our remuneration reflects this complexity.
Some assignments require a significant investment of our time and resources beyond what a standard commission might cover. This could include in-depth risk assessments , detailed policy comparisons beyond our regularly dealt with insurers, extensive negotiation with underwriters, or ongoing consultative services.
While we have arrangements with many insurers and underwriting agencies to find the right product for you, in certain cases, we may need to approach a broader range of the general insurance market or specialist underwriters to secure the best terms and coverage for your unique needs. This expanded market engagement can incur additional costs for us.
Beyond policy placement, our services include helping you identify and assess risks, providing advice on risk mitigation, preparing and managing claims on your behalf, and advocating for you throughout the claims process. A fee may reflect the extensive value we add in these areas.
For certain insurance products, insurers may pay little or no commission. In these instances, a direct fee ensures we can still provide you with expert advice and service for these essential covers.
Any fee that we charge will be clearly detailed on your invoice.
Impact of Policy Changes or Cancellations
It’s important to understand how refunds and cancellations may affect our remuneration. If a cover is cancelled before the expiry of the period of insurance, we reserve the right to refund only the net return premium we receive from the insurer, and not any part of the brokerage and/or broker fee we received for arranging the cover. A broker fee may also be charged to process the cancellation.
The implication of these terms is that any refund you receive for a mid-term cancellation will usually be significantly less than a pro-rata calculation would produce. Therefore, prior to cancelling a policy or replacing it with another, we strongly recommend discussing your situation with us so we can advise on the exact extent and impact of these early cancellation provisions.
Our Commitment to Transparency
All fees related to your insurance arrangements will be clearly presented on your invoice. While commission is typically part of our remuneration, it is not always explicitly shown on all policy invoices. We urge you to review your invoices carefully. If you have any questions or require further clarification on any aspect of our pricing or fees, please do not hesitate to contact your Account Executive. Our aim is to ensure you feel fully informed and confident in our services.
