National broker group Westcourt is making a “subtle but unique” change to its “authorised representative” designation, which it expects “will generate quite a bit of flak from within the industry”.

It has decided to introduce the term “authorised broker” to describe its 104 member companies, after feedback from members.

Founder and Director of Operations Jeff Hollands told insuranceNEWS.com.au the new designation is important “because people don’t understand what authorised representatives are. They are brokers.”

He says many employed and licensed brokers may not like the change, but feedback from members has indicated that being referred to as representatives rather than brokers “diminishes the perceived value of the services they provide to their clients as professional insurance brokers”.

“While legislation requires the defined term ‘authorised representative’ in a legislative sense, we as a network wish to recognise that our authorised representatives are professional brokers,” Westcourt says in a statement.

It says promoting the authorised brokers title “will allow them to more confidently align their identity as authorised representatives to the advice and service they provide as brokers”.

“This change will also remedy the confusion experienced by clients when they encounter the authorised representative name, with the client instead being able to easily identify them as an insurance broker,” the company says.

Mr Hollands told insuranceNEWS.com.au while he anticipates opposition from within the industry, “we’re merely saying what the role is about. Our members are really no different from a broker working under their own licence or a broker from Marsh or Aon.

“In fact, our members are possibly more monitored and their performance scrutinised more than other people who call themselves brokers.

“It’s a great move. The authorised representative concept is only going to get bigger, and this gets to the market exactly what the role is about.”