insurance

Who is caught

Two distinct but related regimes sit under this topic: the carrying on of insurance business itself under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996, and general insurance mediation business (broking and intermediation) regulated under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998. Both are administered by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), whose supervisory remit over insurance permit holders is confirmed by the Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998.

Insurance business

• Permit requirement: No person may carry on long-term or general insurance business in or from within Jersey without a permit granted under Article 7 of the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996.
• Category A: For applicants already authorised and supervised by a regulator outside Jersey.
• Category B: For all other applicants, including captive insurers and special purpose vehicles such as transformer vehicles and insurance securitisation companies.
• Motor liability: Writing motor vehicle liability insurance requires additional approval as an authorised insurer under the Motor Traffic (Third-Party Insurance) (Jersey) Law 1948, in addition to an insurance permit.

General insurance mediation

• Registrable activity: General insurance mediation business is a class of financial service business requiring registration with the JFSC under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998.
• Classes: The Financial Services (Financial Service Business) (Jersey) Order 2009 groups general insurance mediation into Classes P, Q, R and S, distinguishing standalone mediation, mediation alongside other authorised business, and incidental mediation with or without advice on policy terms.

Sources: Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Financial Services (Financial Service Business) (Jersey) Order 2009 · Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998 · Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 · Guidance Note: Applications under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 · Guidance Note: Applications under the Motor Traffic (Third-Party Insurance) (Jersey) Law 1948 · Licensing Policy in respect of activities requiring a permit under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 (2011-02-11)

Key duties

Obligations run from initial authorisation through ongoing accounting, audit, solvency and governance duties. The headline continuing duties differ between insurance permit holders and general insurance mediation registrants.

Insurance permit holders

• Application: Apply in the Commission's required form, supply particulars and verification, pay the prescribed fee, and give prompt written notice of any material change affecting a pending application.
• Annual renewal: Permits are renewable each year on 1 October, per the JFSC applications guidance.
• Accounts and audit: Keep proper accounting records, prepare annual financial statements, appoint a qualified auditor, and submit audited annual financial statements to the Commission (Article 19 of the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996).
• Display: Display the permit and any conditions attached to it.
• Category B approvals: Obtain Commission approval for directors, chief executives and shareholder controllers; remain wholly owned by the applicant unless the Commission agrees otherwise; and obtain prior consent before changing directors or writing new risks or products.
• Category B reporting: Under the Insurance Business (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1996, furnish six-monthly financial statements and information, audited accounts within three months of the financial period end, a five-year rolling business plan, and six-monthly auditor confirmations on product and investment conditions.
• Solvency: Maintain solvency margins. Under the Insurance Business (Solvency Margin) (Jersey) Order 1996, Category B general business must hold at least 75% approved assets and a margin of at least 17.5% of net premium income; long-term business must hold at least 25% approved assets and a margin of the greater of £50,000 or 2.5% of the required long-term business fund.
• Actuary: Where long-term business is carried on, appoint an actuary who must value long-term liabilities at least annually and endorse the valuation basis and solvency calculation in the annual financial statements.
• Code of Practice: The Insurance Business Code of Practice requires control by at least three appropriately qualified and experienced people, adequate capital resources, a compliance function, MLRO and MLCO, complaints handling, and submission of an Annual Declaration confirming compliance.
• Transfers: Transfers of insurance business require JFSC review and Royal Court sanction under Article 27 and Schedule 2, with prescribed documentation timelines before each hearing.

General insurance mediation business

• Accounting and audit: Under the 2005 Accounts, Audits, Reports and Solvency Order, registrants must obtain approval of accounting periods, keep records for at least 10 years, engage only Commission-approved auditors, submit financial statements with a declaration and auditor's report within 4 months of period end (extendable to 8 months), and maintain a margin of solvency.
• Client assets: Under the 2005 Client Assets Order, insurance money must be held at an approved bank in segregated insurance broking accounts, paid in within 3 business days of receipt, reconciled at least monthly within 10 business days, and withdrawn only for specified purposes, with a statutory trust applying on a pooling event.
• Governance: The General Insurance Mediation Business Code of Practice requires a regulatory span of control of at least two qualified or experienced people, a Compliance Officer and MLRO, adequate records and complaints handling, adequate financial resources and professional indemnity insurance, and open dealing with the JFSC.
• Advertising: The Financial Services (Advertising) (Jersey) Order 2008 requires advertisements to identify the issuer and provider, be clear, fair and not misleading, not claim Commission approval, and be retained with records for 10 years.
• Fees: The JFSC Fees Notice 2026 and the 2021 GIMB/MSB fees feedback set application and annual fees, with annual fees generally due by 28 February.

Sources: Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Financial Services (Advertising) (Jersey) Order 2008 · Financial Services (Financial Service Business) (Jersey) Order 2009 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Accounts, Audits, Reports and Solvency)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Client Assets)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 · Insurance Business (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1996 · Insurance Business (Solvency Margin) (Jersey) Order 1996 · General Insurance Mediation Business Code of Practice · Insurance Business Code of Practice · Guidance Note: Applications under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 · Licensing Policy in respect of activities requiring a permit under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 (2011-02-11) · Guidance Note: Transfers of Insurance Business under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 (2014-01-10) · Feedback on Consultation No. 10 2021: General Insurance Mediation Business and Money Service Business Fees · JFSC Fees Notice 2026

Exemptions and carve-outs

The instruments provide several carve-outs, chiefly to avoid duplicate regulation and to accommodate overseas or appropriately regulated persons.

• Insurance business classes: The Insurance Business (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1996 exempts certain general business classes (14 to 18) and certain single-member long-term companies from Article 5 of the Law, and exempts vehicle breakdown and roadside assistance benefit-in-kind contracts meeting specified terms.
• Insurer investment business: The Financial Services (Investment Business (Insurance Business - Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2001 exempts insurance permit holders from Articles 13 to 18 of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 for investment business arising from their permitted insurance business.
• Product providers only: JFSC guidance states that insurance companies merely effecting long-term insurance contracts under an Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 permit can remain regulated solely under that Law; separate registration under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 is triggered only if they provide investment advice.
• Overseas mediation: The Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Exemptions)) (Jersey) Order 2005 exempts overseas persons from registration in limited cases: administering certain pre-21 January 2005 contracts (transitional), dealing with an authorised Jersey-incorporated insurer, genuinely unsolicited business, or qualifying agency arrangements.
• Appropriately regulated persons: Both the 2005 GIMB Accounts Order and the 2005 Client Assets Order allow registrants to apply for exemption, including for appropriately regulated persons from specified overseas or UK regimes, subject to conditions and possible revocation.
• Schedule 2 exemptions: Schedule 2 to the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 sets out categories of business and persons exempted from registration, including for general insurance mediation business.
• Advertising exemptions: The Financial Services (Advertising) (Jersey) Order 2008 excludes money service business advertisements and provides exemptions for certain fund prospectuses, business-name-only notices, sponsorship statements, and specified overseas-person communications.
• SRDC workbook: Per the 2024 supervisory risk data collection update, Category A insurance permit holders that do not meet the 'in or from within' test are excused from the insurance business workbook but must still complete the Section I footprint workbook.

Sources: Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Financial Services (Advertising) (Jersey) Order 2008 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Accounts, Audits, Reports and Solvency)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Client Assets)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Exemptions)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Financial Services (Investment Business (Insurance Business – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2001 · Insurance Business (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1996 · Guidance Note: Treatment of Insurance Companies under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 in respect of Investment Business (2010-09-13) · Updates to our 2024 supervisory risk data collection (2024-09-27)

Enforcement and penalties

Enforcement is split across criminal offences, civil financial penalties, and a range of supervisory intervention powers. The summaries attribute different powers to different instruments, so the instrument is named in each case.

Criminal offences

• Unauthorised insurance business: Under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996, carrying on insurance business without the required permit is an offence punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment or a fine, or both; making false or misleading statements to induce insurance contracts or to the Commission is also an offence.
• Mediation offences: The 2005 GIMB Accounts, Audits, Reports and Solvency Order is backed by criminal offences for non-compliance.
• Breach of directions: As recorded in the Nicpon public statement, it is a criminal offence under Article 36(7) of the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 to act in breach of statutory directions, and for any permit holder to knowingly allow a person to act in contravention of them.

Civil financial penalties

• Penalty regime: Articles 21A to 21G of the Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998 create a civil financial penalty regime applying to registered persons, principal persons and key persons, with notification, surcharge and appeal provisions.
• Penalty bands: The Financial Services Commission (Financial Penalties) (Jersey) Order 2015 sets banded maximum penalties, with separate caps for registered persons, principal persons and key persons across Bands 1, 2, 2A and 3 (the highest band for intentional or reckless contraventions).

Supervisory powers

• Directions and intervention: Under the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 the Commission may require information and documents, investigate, enter and search premises, issue directions and remedial orders, exercise powers of intervention, seek injunctions and issue public statements about permit holders.
• Appointment of a manager: The Insurance Business (Appointment of Manager) (Jersey) Order 2008 lets the Commission apply to the Royal Court to appoint a manager over an insurer in prescribed circumstances (inadequate management, disorderly cessation, failure to handle claims, unauthorised business, asset protection, avoiding forced closure, compensation schemes, or non-compliance with directions); a parallel power exists for financial service business, including insurance business, under the equivalent 2008 Order.
• Public statements: The JFSC has issued public statements warning about or sanctioning insurance-related conduct under Article 43 and Article 43(2) of the Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 (for example the Blue Swan Insurance series), and under Articles 25(b), (c) and (d) of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 (for example Alternate Insurance Services).
• Code breaches: Failure to comply with the Insurance Business Code of Practice or the General Insurance Mediation Business Code of Practice is not itself an offence but is a ground for regulatory action, including additional conditions, directions, financial penalties or revocation/cancellation.
• Fees and late filing: The JFSC Fees Notice 2026 and the 2021 GIMB/MSB fees feedback impose late payment fees (including a 5% monthly late payment fee for GIMB and MSB annual fees) and a late filing fee (GIMB/MSB: £100 per month a required document remains outstanding).

Sources: Financial Services (Appointment of Manager) (Jersey) Order 2008 · Financial Services (General Insurance Mediation Business (Accounts, Audits, Reports and Solvency)) (Jersey) Order 2005 · Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998 · Financial Services Commission (Financial Penalties) (Jersey) Order 2015 · Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 · Insurance Business (Appointment of Manager) (Jersey) Order 2008 · General Insurance Mediation Business Code of Practice · Insurance Business Code of Practice · Feedback on Consultation No. 10 2021: General Insurance Mediation Business and Money Service Business Fees · Mr Justin Krzysztof Jozef Nicpon (R) (2012-02-03) · Alternate Insurance Services Limited, summary public statement (2010-01-04) · Blue Swan Insurance (Jersey) Limited (2009-03-18) · Blue Swan Insurance (Jersey) Limited (2006-05-31) · Blue Swan Insurance (Jersey) Limited (2006-04-07) · Blue Swan Insurance (Jersey) Limited (2006-02-06) · JFSC Fees Notice 2026