The Association of Czech Insurance Brokers (Asociace českých pojišťovacích makléřů – AČPM) i a professional organization that gathers brokers´ legal entities, with an opportunity for natural persons´ associate membership. The ACPM mission is based on the protection of joint interests of its members and on the care for the fair recognition of the role of insurance brokers at the local insurance market as well as on a world-wide scale. The Association strives for the continuous improvement of professional standards of its members´ activities, ethical dimensions of the practised profession and of the reputation of insurance brokers.
Our Association was founded in March 1994 at the initiative of the international brokers´ companies active in the Czech Republic at that time, in order to defend common professional interests and to cultivate the prestige of the new profession within the Czech financial market. Later, in 1999, another professional organization – Chamber of Insurance Brokers – was established, mostly by Czech-owned firms. The two bodies finally merged into one in 2005, under the name of the Association of Czech Insurance Brokers (AČPM).
AČPM´s primary mission is spread into a number of spheres: legislation, ethics, publicity, education, professional issues, international relations.
Our Association is regularly invited to comment on the draft legislation in financial services and, in particular, in insurance. In the past, we played a crucial role both in the preparation and the final approval of the Insurance Intermediaries Act (Act Nr. 38/2004 Coll. on the insurance intermediaries and independent loss adjusters) that governed our profession until recently. Since 2011, we took an active part in the discussions on the legal framework of the distribution at the financial market which had been initiated by the regulator, the Ministry of Finance of the CR, and the supervisor, the Czech National Bank. Last but not least, the AČPM representatives actively participated in the transposition of the new EU Directive on Insurance Distribution (IDD) into the Czech legislation, which resulted in the Act No. 170/2018 on distribution of insurance and reinsurance, an amendment to which was approved last year as the Act No. 524/2020.
The prestige of every profession can be jeopardized by an unethical conduct of some irresponsible individuals. The Association makes every effort to eliminate any possibility of such excesses and requires its members to strictly abide by its Code of Ethics (= Code of Conduct), last amended by the AČPM General Assembly in 2013. In order to better supervise members´ activities from the ethical point of view and to solve any possible disputes in this sense, the AČPM Statutes foresee the establishment of an Ethical Commission whose members are elected every two years.
The Association makes every effort to enhance professional knowledge and expert capabilities of both its members and the insurance brokers in general. Throughout the years, AČPM had been organizing numerous lectures, seminars and conferences that were attended by hundreds of participants.
Our Association is a sole founder and a co-organizer, together with the Czech Association of Insurers and the specialized information server oPojištění.cz (About Insurance), of a traditional B2B contest called Insurer of the Year. Regarding the rules, it is the insurance brokers who assess the insurance companies´ performance in five categories: insurance of industry, car insurance, civil insurance, specialized insurance and life insurance. The organizers also vote for a “Personality of the Insurance Market” – a title awarded for an outstanding contribution to the development of insurance in the Czech Republic. Within the framework of the contest, the insurers also judge the overall performance of insurance brokers, to award the title of Insurance Broker of the Year. The awards-giving ceremony is one of the most noted and spectacular events in the Czech insurance industry's calendar and is the only time each year that the industry comes together as such. It is usually attended by about two hundred VIP guests which are insurance brokers, CEOs and other top managers of insurance houses operating in the CR, representatives of the Czech National Bank (supervisor) and of the Ministry of Finance (regulator), heads of other financial market associations, academics, journalists etc. For more detailed information, including a photo gallery and video, kindly visit HYPERLINK "http://www.pojistovnaroku.cz" www.pojistovnaroku.cz
Our Association became an active member of BIPAR (European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries) in October 1998. This membership (as well as the one in the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries and in the Partners of Intermediaries) means that AČPM and its members can profit from all valuable professional information gathered by BIPAR, can share the experience of other national member associations and rely on their friendly assistance whenever needed, as well as be involved in the process of the legislative work of the European Union.
Please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail at HYPERLINK "mailto:acpm@acpm.cz" acpm@acpm.cz or by phone at +420 603 200 088 in case you wish to learn more about our activities.