I have had a few emails regarding Body Corporate Management Companies refusing to get quotes from all the insurance companies prepared to quote in the market. I have reported this to the Taskforce and the Premier's Office. My understanding of the response from the Taskforce is that a Body Corporate Committee can instruct their BCM to obtain quotes from specified insurance companies as well as any other the BCM might want to get a quote from. It is against the legislation for them to refuse. It is also clear a Committee can decide to approach a broker of their choice or a company direct if they choose. The Committee can also instruct which broker a BCM is to deal with. Always ask your BCM if they are getting your insurance quotes just how much they are getting and how much the broker is getting. There are BCMs and brokers out there who charge a set fee rather than a percentage. The following was prepared by a member of the Taskforce: "In summary, my understanding is that the body corporate has rights to remove the BCM for acting as you describe. Also, there is nothing stopping the body corporate from bypassing the BCM and buying their own insurance. In Queensland my research has found that: Managers must provide written disclosure of commissions, payments and other benefits, and written disclosure of their relationships with suppliers. An insurance example was added to the regulations in 2008 to ensure that everyone understood that insurance disclosures were required. Additionally, managers’ conduct is governed by a statutory code set out in Schedule 2 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. The Code of Conduct (the Code) is taken to be included in the terms of the management contract, and in the event of an inconsistency between a provision of the Code and another term of the contract, the provision of the code prevails. The Code, among other things, requires managers to: · act in the best interests of the owners corporation; · keep the owners corporation informed of significant developments or issues; · refrain from accepting appointments from other owners corporations that would place them in a conflict of interest; and · take reasonable steps to ensure that goods or services they obtain for or supply to the owners corporation are competitively priced. Contravention of the Code also entitles the owners corporation to terminate the contract. Additionally, the committee must obtain at least two quotations if the cost of engaging a service contractor will exceed either a spending limit previously set by the owners corporation, or in the absence of such a limit, a limit set by a statutory formula. There is nothing in the law to stop a body corporate from approaching a broker/insurer directly and getting around the management corporation. Section 119 allows the committee to delegate powers, and revoke authorisation at any time."