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We have been doing our research into the Professional Indemnity Insurance options offered by the MIA and Migration Alliance (MA), given that they are the two peak membership associations in the migration advice profession.
Let's start with the basics. MIA charge members (joint members of MA) an annual membership fee. Migration Alliance does not charge an annual membership fee.
Reason would have it that MIA members would then be given access to great savings and well-negotiated deals on essentials such as Professional Indemnity Insurance through their membership association. Nope.
Here are the results of our research on Professional Indemnity Insurance as at 21 May 2018:
MIGRATION ALLIANCE PI DEAL:
Provider: BizCover
$75,000 to $150,000 Salary
$250,000 of Professional Indemnity Insurance
Annually: 327.75 without the Migration Alliance discount (fees included in price)
Annually: $238.85 with the Migration Alliance discount (this price will vary depending on the State / Territory, revenue level, and number of employees) - updated 22 May
MIGRATION INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA PI DEAL
Provider: Fenton Green
$100,000 salary range (approximately)
Annually: $463.04 without discount
Annually: $403.04 with the MIA discount
Conclusion: Buy your Professional Indemnity Insurance through BizCover. Quote MABIZ001 to get your Migration Alliance discount. The Migration Alliance discount is 38% using the Code: MABIZ001. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Obviously this post is not financial advice and those at MIA who claim it is clearly don't understand how the Law works. This is a comparitive post between base products of two providers DISCOUNT offerings. it is not stating the insurance exlusions or inclusions are identical and makes the reference to obtaining your own advice.
Personally, i recommend calling both insurers and figuring out which products best suit your practice, your needs and your legal obligations.
In my case i found Biz Cover a much better deal, and Fenton actually acknowledged this on the phone with me. Does that mean i'm on easy street if i make a claim... perhaps not!
Oh - and even if the MIA deal is crap, it's cheaper than mainstream pricing....
This article is not financial advice! It’s a comparison. MIA must be packing sh1t again. If they weren’t worried then they would just ignore this article. What the MIA seem to forget is that most of their members are also members of Migration Alliance.
Reacting to Migration Alliance means Migration Alliance is very relevant.
They know that members take notice.
Agents want the best deal not just any deal.
I got an email from the CEO of MIA full of threats and warnings about this. It seems feathers have been ruffled. On the one hand the CEO is quoting the code of conduct (he does not seem to realise that the code of conduct relates to the provision of advice to clients and is not a broad code applicable to life in general) and on the other hand he is making public statements which I feel are disparaging of Migration Alliance as well.
Whilst I admire that he is doing his best to protect the MIA, the problem I see is that MIA members are also MA members. It confuses me to be honest.
The numerous comments here about liquidation and bankruptcy are making me nervous. I've been active for 5 years as a sole-trader, quietly plugging along without much complaint. How common are these massive payouts requiring more than $250,000 insurance? I guess I'm not working with big companies who might be losing millions because they had 30 nominations refused so I can't really imagine why I would need more than that. Maybe I've just been lucky not to have an application refused due to an error of my own making. Has anyone had a partner, visitor, student or simple GSM application turn into a $250,000 law suit ?
What is the "salary range" mentioned in the original post above? There are no questions on salary in the Fenton Green application - there is only this:
Question 8: Total Revenue for Current Financial Year ($AUD)
Please select gross fees/turnover/revenue derived from business activities involving the following Registered Migration Agent Services:
JNC I've never made a claim or had reason to, I don't operate under "no win, no fee", neither do I have a risky business model. I've simply taken out PI insurance for Reg 6B and CoC 2.3A compliance, and increased the level of cover for extra security for the unknown. I've not heard of anyone else paying these types of fees with FG. I emailed the MIA CEO on Monday evening asking if they were aware of the exorbitant increases, and also questioned the value of their FG partnership, but have yet to receive a response.
Carl maybe a better question would be "how much do Fenton Green pay the MIA every year to be given the opportunity to promote their Professional Indemnity Insurance to MIA members?".
It doesn't make sense that BizCover offer $1 million dollars in cover for a lot less than Fenton Green's $500K (no sense to the RMA anyway). It might make sense if we consider the B2B deal between the MIA and Fenton Green and the cost of that to Fenton Green, but as of yet we don't know what that is. I pay membership to the MIA each year to get something in return but now I am seeing I am paying more than just the membership fee. I am paying more for almost everything and it is not better value for money either.
Nab - even the corrected amounts are lower than Fenton Green's insurance quote. Did you see the quote Liana Allan was given yesterday for $1million cover? It is still lower through BizCover!!!