Broker Remuneration Debate Puts Disclosure on the Agenda

The National Insurance Brokers Association released its rewritten draft code for consultation in July 2026. The draft includes stronger disclosure for strata insurance clients, a requirement to show remuneration as a dollar figure on invoices, and an ability for clients to ask what their broker is paid. It also proposes improvements around vulnerable clients, pre-renewal contact and record keeping.

However, criticism has centred on whether small business clients should receive automatic disclosure across all general insurance products, not only where the product is treated as a retail product under the Corporations Act. That distinction matters for agency principals because real estate businesses often sit in the space between consumer-style reliance on advice and commercial insurance complexity. A busy agency may not have in-house insurance expertise, yet it may still be making decisions about limits, exclusions, excesses and claims scenarios that can materially affect the business.

This story is also an extension of the wider transparency conversation already affecting strata and property professionals. If commissions, referral arrangements or commercial relationships are not clearly understood, agency leaders may struggle to assess whether a recommendation is based on suitability, market access, insurer appetite or remuneration structure.

Practical steps for real estate agencies include:

• Ask your broker to set out all fees, commissions and other remuneration in dollar terms before renewal.
• Request a written explanation of why each recommended policy suits your agency’s risk profile.
• Check whether professional indemnity, public liability, cyber and management liability limits reflect your current rent roll, sales activity and staffing model.
• Keep evidence of renewal discussions, declined options and insurer responses in your compliance records.
• Use the consultation period as a prompt to review whether your agency is receiving enough clarity from its current brokers.

The key takeaway is simple: transparency should be treated as part of the insurance buying process, not an optional extra. Real estate professionals do not need to become insurance technicians, but they should be confident that advice, remuneration and conflicts are explained in plain English. With consultation on the draft code closing on 7 August 2026, now is a sensible time to compare renewal options and tighten internal insurance governance before the next policy cycle.