The Code
The IBAZ Code of Ethics
The Code binds member firms on conflicts of interest, disclosure, handling of client money, competence, confidentiality and fair treatment of clients. Member firms agree to it as a condition of membership.
Membership is not automatic and it is not permanent. The Executive Committee reviews every application against the Code, and members are expected to keep to it for as long as they hold membership.
Your statutory protections
What the law already requires
Some protections are not a matter of good practice. They are written into the Insurance Act No. 38 of 2021.
Your premium must move within fourteen days
A licensed broker must transmit your premium to the insurer within fourteen days of you paying it, or within another period the insurer and broker have agreed in writing. A broker who misses this owes the insurer interest at the Bank of Zambia policy rate plus ten percent of that rate, and faces a daily administrative penalty.
Insurance Act No. 38 of 2021, section 21
Your money sits in a separate account
Client money must be held in a separate client account, kept apart from the broker's own funds. The broker cannot hold that account at a bank where the firm or one of its directors is a beneficial owner, and the Registrar can require the broker to disclose the account and how it is being run.
Insurance Act No. 38 of 2021, section 22
The Insurance Fidelity Fund
An Insurance Fidelity Fund exists to compensate people who suffer financial loss caused by a licensed insurer or insurance broker. It applies to individuals and to micro, small and medium enterprises as prescribed.
Insurance Act No. 38 of 2021, section 180 and the Second Schedule
Competence
Continuing professional development
IBAZ runs technical sessions through the year and works with the Zambia Pensions and Insurance College Trust on qualifications for people entering the profession. Sessions cover insurance law, market practice, regulatory change and the technical side of placing risk.
Consumer protection
If something goes wrong
Start with the broking firm. Every member firm must have a complaints procedure and must tell you how to use it. Most problems are resolved at this stage.
Then bring it to IBAZ. If the firm does not resolve it, you can bring the complaint to us. We will look at whether the firm has breached the Code of Ethics and can take it up with the member.
Regulatory matters go to the Authority. Complaints about licensing, solvency or conduct that may breach the Insurance Act should go to the Pensions and Insurance Authority, which regulates the industry.
Deal with a broker who is bound by the Code
Every firm in our directory is an IBAZ member and holds a current licence from the Pensions and Insurance Authority.