The upcoming meeting with the Finance committee of Parliament N.A.
The fact that Parliament is willing to hear us (SIBA), gives meaning to the statement by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 "Government of the People, by the People and for the People".
The aggressive manner in which commercial banks are now involved in the insurance mediation business is hurting brokers as they are in a position to force clients to take insurance on-the-spot when granted a loan. Worse is that, in this process the client does not have given the freedom to choose any alternatives that would be better or cheaper.
We will accept the invitation to attend the meeting of the finance committee at which time we will make a clear and simple case that this situation requires regulation so that we can have a level playing field for all stakeholders.
This level playing field in our humble opinion means that the banks will have to remove their insurance departments outside of banking premises and compete with all other stakeholders based on service and expertise
It will also give the customer the opportunity to FREELY shop around for the best Price, Policy and payment terms.
This trend is considered FORCED SHOPPING "Gedwongen Winkeliering and can be compared to trying to by bread and being forced to also by cheese, butter and milk at the same store.
We hope that once this Law is enacted it can be used as a means to protect other sectors that the banks may soon want to take over, since there is already a fear that the in house services may also include Architects, Certified Appraisers and who knows how far it may go.
We sincerely thank OUR Parliament for its intervention and now look forward to having fruitful discussions.
Sint Maarten Insurance Brokers Association (SIBA)
Neil Henderson, Founding Member, Past President and Current Advisor