A group of New Zealand underwriting agencies announced today a new body has been set up to speak for the sector in the country, which has been represented by the Underwriting Agencies Council (UAC) for the last five years.

The New Zealand Underwriting Agencies Council (NZUAC) will be affiliated with its Australian counterpart, UAC GM William Legge told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Legge says UAC has provided input and support to help with the establishment of the New Zealand body.

“We sort of felt the time has come for them to have their own association,” Mr Legge said. “I’ve been over there about four, five times working with them on it, how to do things, who we call a member and all the mechanics for creating an association and now the time is ripe for them to create their own.

“We will be affiliated as we are with the UK, Canada and the US.”

NZUAC says there are about 40 underwriting agencies in the country as at April and they handle about 10% or $NZ700 million ($652 million) of overall fire and general insurance premiums written annually.

Steering Committee Chairman John Baker says the body aims to speak with a collective voice for the profession as more regulatory changes lie ahead.

“As the New Zealand insurance market becomes more regulated, the delivery of insurance solutions becomes more fragmented,” Mr Baker said.

“New Zealand needs a professional and united front to represent the interests of New Zealand’s 40-plus underwriting agencies.

“As an organisation, we’ll monitor, and where necessary, develop positions on insurance regulation, as well as engage in matters that affect the wellbeing of the underwriting agency industry.”

The NZUAC, which will hold its first meeting in September, says its first task is to get underwriting agencies who have yet to sign up, to get onboard.

Members of the steering committee charged with growing NZUAC are Mr Baker (Star Insurance Specialists), Morgan Balderstone (Able Insurance), George Dmitriev (Insurance Underwriters NZ), Phil Hibbert (Protecta Insurance), Andrew McFetridge (Rosser Underwriting), Lyndon Turner (NM Group NZ) and David Walton (NZ Underwriting Agents).