InCrowd
Insurance Essentials for corporates

Our insurance distribution services

Non-insurance entities are becoming increasingly involved in the distribution of insurance-related products – for example banks selling insurance to their banking customers, manufacturers embedding insurance in their product sales and long-term leases coming with road insurance including in the monthly lease – and in doing so are faced with numerous challenges such as:

• Obtaining the best possible terms with insurer counterparties.
• Keeping up with the ever-changing global regulations and ensuring compliance, particularly in relation to consumer related products.
• Dealing with complex distribution structures.
• Adopting and integrating new technology – such as AI and data analytics – whilst complying with an evolving regulatory landscape.
• Ensuring data security at a time of increasing cyber threats.
• Facing disputes surrounding distribution agreements down the line.
• Ensuring that the right regulatory permissions are obtained.

How we can help

We frequently act for non-insurance clients in relation to insurance distribution. Our team has the experience to help clients by:

• Negotiating agreement terms.
• Designing, drafting and reviewing the terms of distribution agreements.
• Advising on traditional and innovative methods of insurance distribution.
• Managing regulatory engagement to ensure the best outcomes for our clients.
• Advising on the regulatory framework and implications for insurance distributors.
• Advising on ancillary aspects such as data protection, tax, IP, cyber and employment issues.
• Conducting risk assessments related to clients’ insurance distribution activities.
• Assisting in the resolution of disputes relating to distribution agreements.

Contractual negotiation

Negotiating terms with insurer counterparties is a large part of the service we provide. This includes:

• Using our extensive market knowledge to negotiate the best-possible terms for clients.
• Providing a commercial approach.

The design, structure and drafting of agreements         

We regularly advise on the implementation of insurance distribution structures by:

• Drafting wordings and designing the structure of the agreements.
• Reviewing agreement wordings.
• Ensuring that the contractual documents are legally sound and align with the client’s commercial objectives.

Regulatory advice

Compliance with regulatory requirements is a major aspect of the work we undertake for clients. We routinely:

• Advise clients on the applicable regulatory framework and implications for their jurisdiction.
• Advise on licensing requirements, registration processes and ongoing compliance obligations.
• Keep up to date with – and report to clients – regulatory and legislative developments impacting the distribution of insurance products.

Global reach

Regulatory requirements relating to the distribution of insurance products vary across different jurisdictions. We can:

• Investigate regulatory and licencing requirements in global jurisdictions.
• Coordinate regulatory reviews whether by using our own network of global offices or working closely with our external network of local law firms.

Dispute resolution

Sometimes disputes arise in relation to distribution agreements. We routinely act for clients in relation to such disputes, whether or not this dispute develops into litigation or arbitration. We offer clients:

• Litigation expertise.
• Market knowledge from many years’ experience.
• An expertise in novel insurance issues.
• A strong commercial focus on resolving disputes efficiently and cost-effectively.
• A global presence.

Clients we can help