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g a z e t t e
a p r i l 1991
by the intermediary i.e. life or
non-life.
It is to be noted that no person
including the State has any right of
recourse against money standing to
the credit of either such client
account until all proper claims by
clients in respect of such monies
have been satisfied in full.
Tied Insurance Agents
The requirements, detailed above,
in regard to the keeping of separate
bank accounts do not apply to
what is referred to as " t i ed
insurance agents". A tied insurance
agent is one who has undertaken
with a particular insurance com-
pany to refer all insurance pro-
posals to that Company or who has
entered into an arrangement with
an insurance company which
restricts his freedom to refer
insurance proposals to other
insurance companies. A tied
insurance agent may only offer
contracts with one life and with
one non-life insurance company.
The insurance company will
henceforth be responsible for acts
and omissions of its tied insurance
agents in relation to policies taken
out with that Company as if the
tied insurance agent was an
employee of the insurance
company.
Agent of Insurance Company in
Certain Cases
A significant alteration to the law
of agency has been effected by
Section 51 which provides that an
insurance
agent
will be deemed to
be acting as agent of the insurance
company when he completes in his
own handwriting or assists the
proposer of an insurance policy to
complete a proposal for insurance
and in such circumstances, the
"Section 51 provides that an
insurance agent will be deemed
to be acting as agent of the
insurance company [in certain
circumstances]."
insurer will be responsible for any
errors or omissions in the com-
pleted proposal form.
Deemed receipt by Insurance
Company of Premiums
An insurance company will be
deemed to have received a
premium paid to a broker or agent
where the premium relates to a
renewal of a policy invited by the
insurance company or in respect of
a proposal accepted by the
insurance company. However, such
deerqed receipt will not apply
where the insurance company has
given reasonable notice in writing
directly to the client that the broker
or agent has no authority to collect
the premiums on behalf of the
insurance company.
Procedure for acceptance of
insurance proposals
An insurance broker or agent may
not accept money from a client in
respect of a proposal unless it is
accompanied by a completed
proposal form or the proposal has
already been accepted by the
insurance company or in the case
of a renewal of the policy of
insurance unless it has been invited
by the insurance company.
Whenever a broker or agent
accepts a completed insurance
proposal or a renewal premium, he
must give to his client a document
indicating that it was given under
Section 52 of the Act and
specifying the name and address of
the client, the amount involved and
the date of its receipt by the broker
or agent, the particular proposal or
renewal in respect of which it is
paid and the insurance company
involved. A suggested format for
this receipt may be obtained from
the IICB. Such a document shall be
prima facie evidence of the facts
set out therein. The requirement to
issue such a document does not
apply where the broker or agent
has authority to and does issue the
actual policy of insurance.
Code of Conduct
Finally, it should be noted that it is
the express intention of the
Minister to foster and encourage
the representative bodies in the
State for insurance brokers and, in
that regard, Section 56 is relevant.
Pursuant to these provisions, the
Minister has approved a Code of
Conduct to be observed by
insurance brokers and agents
copies of which may be obtained
from the IICB. This Code of
Conduct must now be displayed in
a prominent position in the public
area of an intermediary's business
premises.
•
JESSUP MOOT
REGIONAL FINAL
The Irish final of the Philip C.
Jessup Moot Court Competition
recently took place in Trinity
College, Dublin. The two regional
finalists were the Kings Inns and
the Solicitor's Apprentices Debat-
ing Society of Ireland.
The format of the competition
was that teams were asked to
consider a fictional situation based
on the U.S./Japan trade controversy
concerning car imports. The dis-
pute involved issues of jurisdiction,
anti-trust law and the application of
the General Agreement on Tarrifs
and Trade. Both teams had to sub-
mit detailed written submissions,
which accounted for approximately
30% of the marks awarded.
SADSI represented Japan and
the Kings Inns, the U.S.A. before a
court composed of the Hon. Niall
McCarthy of the Supreme Court,
John Cooke, S.C. and Alpha
Connolly, lecturer in international
law in U.C.D. Yvonne McNamara
and T.P. Kennedy argued the SADSI
case and Maura McNally and Mick
Delaney appeared for the Inns.
After a hard fought contest,
judgement was given in favour of
SADSI.
The winning team will represent
Ireland in the international semi-
finals which will be held shortly in
Washington D.C. Approximately 40
other national teams will be par-
ticipating. The full SADSI team is:
Yvonne McNamara (Matheson
Ormsby
Prentice),
Donagh
McGowan, Judith Lawless, T. P.
Kennedy and Tom Hallinan (all of
McCann FitzGerald).
•
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