insuranceNEWS.com.au recently published two articles about the failure of the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) to consult the Underwriting Agencies Council (UAC) about its plans to stage its own underwriting expos.

Last week NIBA CEO Dallas Booth was quoted in a competitor publication as saying that “despite suggestions in other places, we do not have a strategy to roll these [expos] out across the country”.

insuranceNEWS.com.au is the only publication to have carried those reports, so let’s be clear:

We didn’t suggest NIBA was planning expos across the country – Mr Booth did. He told an Insurance News reporter that if the western Sydney NIBA Expo is successful, “similar events will be held in other cities, including Hobart and Darwin”. He also mentioned the NSW south coast and regional Queensland as other possible venues.

UAC first became aware of the plans when NIBA announced on its website the date for its “new for 2015” Tasmanian expo in February.

Mr Booth also reportedly took offence at “headlines… suggesting some sort of rift between UAC and NIBA”, adding: “The opposite is the case.”

That is like denying water is wet. UAC has been very clear about its reaction to NIBA’s lack of consultation, and our articles have reflected that fact. Nevertheless, we didn’t say there was a “rift” between the two associations; that would have been stating the obvious. 

Insurance News has an effective set of procedures in place for dealing with complaints about our reporting. Mr Booth chose not to make use of them; instead he spoke to a competitor publication to deny much of the content of our reports. We stand by their accuracy.

Terry McMullan
Publisher