Commonwealth Numbered Acts

Insurance (Agents and Brokers) Act 1984 No. 75 of 1984 - SECT 26

26. (1) A registered insurance broker shall pay into an account maintained by
him with a bank solely for the purposes of this section all moneys received by
him-

   (a)  from or on behalf of an insured or intending insured for or on account
        of an insurer in connection with a contract of insurance arranged or
        effected or to be arranged or effected by the broker; or

   (b)  from or on behalf of an insurer for or on account of an insured or
        intending insured.

(2) An account maintained under sub-section (1) shall be called an
''Insurance Broking Account'', with or without other words of description.

(3) A registered insurance broker shall not, except with the consent in
writing of the relevant Commissioner, withdraw moneys from an account
maintained by him under sub-section (1) except-

   (a)  for payment to or for a person entitled to receive payment of the
        moneys, including himself in so far as he is entitled to receive
        payment for himself;

   (b)  for payment to or for an insurer in respect of amounts due to the
        insurer under or in relation to a contract of insurance arranged or
        effected by the broker (including a contract of insurance that has
        been cancelled);

   (c)  for investment as provided by sub-section (4); or

   (d)  for repayment of moneys that were paid into the account in error.

(4) A registered insurance broker may invest in prescribed securities moneys
included in an account maintained by him under sub-section (1) that were
received by him from an insured or intending insured in connection with a
contract of insurance (not being a contract of life insurance) arranged or
effected or to be arranged or effected by the broker.

(5) A registered insurance broker shall pay moneys received from the
realization of an investment made under sub-section (4) into an account
maintained by him under sub-section (1).

(6) If, upon the realization of an investment made under sub-section (4), an
amount is received in respect of the realization that is less than the amount
invested, the registered insurance broker shall pay into the account from
which the moneys were withdrawn for investment an amount equal to the
difference between the amount invested and the amount received.

(7) If, upon the realization of an investment under sub-section (4), an amount
is received in respect of the realization that is greater than the amount
invested, the registered insurance broker may retain for his own benefit the
amount by which the amount received exceeds the amount invested and need not
pay it into, or retain it in, an account maintained under sub-section (1).

(8) Interest, dividends or other income received by a registered insurance
broker from an account maintained under sub-section (1) or from an investment
made under sub-section (4) may be retained by the broker for his own benefit
and need not be paid into, or retained in, an account maintained under
sub-section (1).

(9) Moneys received by a registered insurance broker as mentioned in
sub-section (1) or (5), both before and after those moneys are paid into an
account maintained under sub-section (1), moneys paid into such an account
under sub-section (6) and securities in which moneys are invested under
sub-section (4) are not capable of being attached or otherwise taken in
execution or of being made subject to a set-off, charge or charging order or
to any process of a like nature.

(10) Nothing in sub-section (9) prevents moneys or securities being attached,
taken in execution or made the subject of a set-off, charge, charging order or
like process at the suit of a person for whom or on whose account moneys have
been paid into the relevant account maintained under sub-section (1) and to
whom or on whose account payment in respect of those moneys has not been made.

(11) This section does not make a banker subject to any liability by reason
only of a failure of a registered insurance broker to comply with any of the
provisions of this section.

Penalty:

   (a)  in the case of a natural person-$500; or

   (b)  in the case of a corporation-$2,500.