The General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) will launch on July 3, 2000, when intermediaries can apply for membership.
Following the response to the consultation period, GISC has decided against operating a phased joining period and will allow intermediaries to join when they wish. At this point membership will still be voluntary although GISC intends to move to a point where insurers will only deal with its members. This will occur when its rulebook has been cleared by the competition authorities.
It has also reduced the annual fee to £200 for commission incomes below £200,000. Above this it will be 0.1 per cent of commission and fee income. Professional indemnity cover requirements have also been reduced to £lm.
GISC intends to have at least 1,000 members by the end of 2000, which will account for a large percentage of insurance business transacted. Speaking at the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries’ AGM, GISC head of communication Catherine Nicoll explained that it was important to be able to demonstrate critical mass and emphasised that July 3 was not the end of something but the beginning of a continuous evolving regulatory time.
Letters detailing the launch will be sent to intermediaries in April, followed in June by application forms and rulebooks.