The ownership of funds held by brokers after the collapse of an insurer was a serious question in Australia following the collapse of HIH last March. While local brokers acted in different ways according to circumstance and legal advice, British brokers are up in arms over demands from the liquidators of collapsed insurer Independent. PricewaterhouseCoopers is demanding that the brokers return commissions earned on the sale of original policies that were cancelled when Independent collapsed in May.