Insurance Broking Practice and the Law
Chapter 8
COVER NOTES AND BROKER INSURANCE DOCUMENTS
COVER NOTES AND BROKER INSURANCE DOCUMENTS
8-1
Once cover has been arranged, a document evidencing the terms of cover will need to be issued. While this evidence, especially today, will usually take the form of the full insurance policy, that is not always the case; reinsurance cover is often evidenced only by a slip with treaty wording to follow and if the risk has been bound under a master policy or pursuant to a scheme, then the only evidence of cover may well be a certificate of insurance. Each of the aforementioned documents is a contractual document and must be created or authorised by the insurer. Where cover has been arranged by a broker, the broker will issue a document evidencing the terms of cover he has arranged. That document is usually described as a cover note. Insurer-authorised documentation may follow, but this is not always the case. If a number of insurance covers have been arranged at the same time, then alternatively “a register” of insurance or similar document will be prepared. The term “cover note” in this context, should not be confused with the term “cover note” used in the context of temporary insurance or as understood in the context of motor insurance. Perhaps partly to avoid that confusion, under principle B of the Market Reform Contract Certainty Code of Practice, a cover note which evidences cover is now called a “Broker Insurance Document” and is described as follows: