CHU CEO Kimberley Jonsson supports strata insurance remuneration reform, despite her belief that “the current system works”.

The strata sector has been under scrutiny for more than a year following an ABC exposé. The NSW government is considering banning strata managers from taking a share of broker commissions, and the Strata Community Association NSW is encouraging its members to move away from such arrangements.

Speaking at last week’s National Insurance Brokers Association Convention, Ms Jonsson said she has been having the “same conversations” for more than 20 years.

“The issues that we’re discussing in NSW are things that I’m on my third time around seeing,” she said. 

“I do believe the current system works, and I do believe people are earning the money that they’re being paid in strata – whether it’s the managers, the brokers.

“[But] I think because we’ve had this same conversation so many times, and it keeps hitting regulatory issues, we are at a point where, for the sector, we need to change something.

“Because we can’t just keep having the same conversation for another 20 years.”

Financial Rights Legal Centre policy and advocacy officer Drew MacRae told attendees that owners “just want a home to live in” and are often not prepared for the complexities of strata living.

“Frankly, people don’t engage because that is just the nature of being,” he said. “The problem is, though, there are very few regulations that have managed to constrain some bad actors in the sector.

“What we want is a set of protections that are built in so [owners] generally don’t have to worry – they trust that their strata manager is acting in their best interest, that the insurance broker is acting in the best interest of the owners’ committee and providing the right advice.”

BAC Insurance Brokers COO Mitchell Lipscombe said recent scrutiny will benefit the sector.

“We need to be truthful here about the conditions that exist that allow for temptations,” he said. “I think rather than running away from that, or rather than thinking that we’re unfairly scrutinised, the solution almost exists within the scrutiny.

“Because it’s a catalyst for us to start routinely asking, what value are we creating? Who are we creating that for? What problem is it that we’re seeking to solve, and who wants to pay for that?

“And the more we ask ourselves those questions, the more we’re better equipped to articulate those for the future.”