Quality of Advice Reviewer Michelle Levy says she understands why consumer groups hate general insurance commissions – but that she cannot see a good reason to ban them.

As previously reported, consumer representatives are continuing their campaign against commissions despite a paper from Ms Levy recommending they remain.

Ms Levy explains her position in a detailed interview with insuranceNEWS.com.au. She says she is against commissions in principle, but that there is no real-world evidence of them causing harm.

In fact, she believes consumers like them, and without them brokers might cease to exist.

“I thought, is there a good reason to undo something that doesn't appear to be causing harm? I don't think a case was made to make a change in the context of general insurance.

“In a perfect world, there would be no commissions at large – not only on financial products or insurance products – but we don't live in a perfect world.”

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