Insurers in the 300 year-old Lloyd’s market have called on the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) to toughen its stance on broker commission disclosure.

The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) says the watchdog needs to break a deadlock in negotiations between insurers and brokers.

LMA Chairman Andrew Kendrick says broker fees have been the subject of intense regulatory probes in the US, but that controversy is yet to affect the British market. Broker payments remain an opaque world in need of clarity, he said.

Many broker companies have pledged their own reform, but Mr Kendrick says it is time for the regulator to force the issue. At the minimum, the FSA should offer guidance on fees, similar to its advice on contract certainty.

FSA CEO John Tiner says the regulator would still prefer the UK insurance market to solve the issue internally. But Mr Kendrick warns that the industry is too complex to effectively self-regulate. “This issue is too difficult. There are too many interests involved here.”