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The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries

Mini Dissertation(LLM (Mercantile Law: Insurance Law & Governance))--University Of Pretoria, 2024.

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Other Authors: Thiruneson, Padayachy
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Thiruneson, Padayachy
author_browse Thiruneson, Padayachy
author_facet Thiruneson, Padayachy
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation(LLM (Mercantile Law: Insurance Law & Governance))--University Of Pretoria, 2024.
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license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/96518 The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries Thiruneson, Padayachy u21454371@tucks.co.za Maralize, Conradie Sithole, Eugine UCTD Insurance intermediaries Definition of insurance intermediary Registration of insurance intermediaries Duties of insurance intermediaries Consequences for breach of intermediary laws The impact of COFI Bill on insurance intermediary Sustainable development goals (SDGs) SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth Law theses SDG-08 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Law theses SDG-16 Mini Dissertation(LLM (Mercantile Law: Insurance Law & Governance))--University Of Pretoria, 2024. In South Africa, before the Financial Advisory and Intermediaries Services Act (FAIS Act) and other insurance laws came into existence, intermediary services regarding the rendering of insurance products have always been regulated by the law of agency and mandate. This means that the Roman-Dutch principles provided for the standards to which the conduct of intermediaries was to comply with when rendering insurance services. The mandate of intermediaries in terms of the Roman-Dutch Principles also included the fact that they had to act with care, skill and in good faith. When the FAIS Act came into operation, it introduced several detailed rules and minimum standards for insurance intermediaries to comply with, and these minimum standards are not limited to qualifications, experiences and characteristics of honesty and integrity that an intermediary must comply with, but they also stipulated in detail what an intermediary must do when discharging insurance intermediary duties. The FAIS Act is the leading legislation when it comes to the regulation of intermediary services. The FAIS Act, under section 16, provides for a General Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Services Providers and their Representative (GCC), which contains a set of rules that are applicable to all intermediaries. These rules under the GCC are aimed at ensuring that insurance customers are provided with material facts that will enable them to make a prior informed decision and that their reasonable financial needs concerning insurance products will be carefully considered so that they can be provided with a product that will be suitable to satisfy their needs. Furthermore, in terms of South African laws and practices, intermediaries play an essential role in the creation of legally binding insurance contracts. Insurance businesses are concluded through intermediaries. Considering that many insurance companies are juristic persons, and they can only conduct business by means of human agents, insurance laws make it compulsory for intermediaries to have skills, knowledge, and experience regarding insurance products that they are rendering to insurance customers. It is commonly believed that intermediaries with skills, knowledge and experience, they always act in the best interest of the client, and they ask relevant questions to assist the clients to disclose all material facts, and they always make sure that material facts are clearly communicated/disclosed to the insurer and insured to avoid future conflicts. The legal framework placed a duty on the intermediary to assist the insured to disclose all material facts and to explain all clauses contained in the insurance contract which may lead to the insurer repudiate its liability. Furthermore, an intermediary is at all material times expected to first consider the financial situation of the potential insured before determines a cover that will be best suitable for the insured’s needs. However, despite the best guidelines outlined by applicable insurance laws and regulations, mistakes are still being made by intermediaries, which lead to insurance customers to suffer the consequences of impractical intermediary services, and that has resulted in numerous complaints, legal disputes, debarments, and other regulatory actions. As a result of intermediaries’ continuous misconduct, insurers have been repudiating claims, and it has created a presumption that insurers conduct businesses to enrich themselves instead of protecting the interests of their customers as required by regulating legal framework. Therefore, so many people have lost confidence in the insurance industry due to unlimited court cases and complaints arising from misconduct or omissions of intermediaries, such as their failure to disclose material facts to the parties. Once it is found that material facts were not fully disclosed between the insurer and insured, both parties would have been deprived of their right to make an informed decision before consenting or signing a legally binding contract. Therefore, a need is created for intermediaries to be educated of their legal duties when rendering insurance services and that will help strengthen or restore the confidence of the public towards insurance industry. none Mercantile Law LLM (Mercantile Law: Insurance Law & Governance) Unrestricted Faculty of Laws 2024-06-19T09:04:10Z 2024-06-19T09:04:10Z 2024-09 2024-02 Mini Dissertation * S2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/96518 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.19029833. en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Insurance intermediaries
Definition of insurance intermediary
Registration of insurance intermediaries
Duties of insurance intermediaries
Consequences for breach of intermediary laws
The impact of COFI Bill on insurance intermediary
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth
Law theses SDG-08
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Law theses SDG-16
The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title_full The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title_fullStr The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title_full_unstemmed The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title_short The legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
title_sort legal framework regulating the duties of insurance intermediaries
topic UCTD
Insurance intermediaries
Definition of insurance intermediary
Registration of insurance intermediaries
Duties of insurance intermediaries
Consequences for breach of intermediary laws
The impact of COFI Bill on insurance intermediary
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth
Law theses SDG-08
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Law theses SDG-16
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/96518
https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.19029833.