Three directors have been elected to the Underwriting Agencies Council (UAC) board of directors at last week’s AGM in Sydney.

Linda King (Sterling Insurance) was elected as a full member, and Heath Amber (Millennium) and Frank Van Rooy (Australis) were re-elected. Simon Trowell (Sportcover) and Eric Richardson (Altiora Insurance Solutions) are the associate directors. Christine Pistone (Newline Australia) and Lyndon Turner (Nautilus Marine) stood unsuccessfully.

UAC Chairman Damien Coates says the council will work on changing its articles of association next year to expand the board from eight full members to 10.

Under the UAC rules half the board retires at each AGM. Mr Coates (Dual Australia), Deputy Chairman John Iles (SUA), Secretary David Porter (AFA) and directors William Legge (Aurora) and Jo Lindsay-Eschbank (Resource Underwriting Pacific) are the continuing directors.

Mr Coates says UAC now has 79 members, made up of 67 full members and 12 associate members.

“There are very few agencies eligible for UAC membership that have not joined, and we are still actively campaigning to include them in the fold,” he said.

Noting that the past year has been “very positive” for UAC and its development of new services to members, he says the board plans to go further in 2011.

“It is vitally important that underwriting agencies take their rightful place in the insurance market as a major force in the industry,” he said.

“Underwriting agencies have a unique place in the Australian insurance market and I look forward to seeing our sector grow stronger.”