Willis Urges Risk Managers to Fight Against Contingent Commissions

Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, which has vowed to not accept contingent commissions, is urging risk managers to insist that all brokers they do business with also drop the controversial revenue source.

Willis has launched an Internet campaign, dubbed “Clients Before Contingents,” to educate insurance buyers about what it maintains are the conflicts of interest inherent in contingent commissions. The campaign is anchored by a new Web site, www.ClientsBefore Contingents.com.

Willis Chairman and CEO Joe Plumeri debuted the campaign at the 2010 Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Conference in Boston, where he urged risk managers to use their wallets to send a strong signal against the controversial payments.

At a press conference from the Willis booth at RIMS, Plumeri said: “Willis put its stake in the ground in 2004 and declared contingents a conflict of interest and not in the buyer’s best interest. We stopped taking them in our retail business and are a better company for it. Buyers of insurance should ask their brokers to follow suit.”