The Central Bank should force brokers accepting inducements from insurance firms to write to customers informing them of their terms, the Consumers' Association of Ireland said yesterday.

In a letter to the head of the Central Bank's securities and exchanges supervision, Mr Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, said intermediaries should disclose the life office of the sponsor, its location, the duration and dates of any inducement and the apportioned cost. Estimates of costs would be available from life office accounts departments, the association said.

As part of the ongoing code of conduct, this declaration should be presented to all prospective clients at point of sale, according to Mr Kilcoyne.

Under existing rules, the Central Bank regarded undeclared inducements as a breach of proper conduct, he said.

The letter from the Consumers' Association follows reports earlier in the week that Irish Life was taking 43 insurance brokers and their partners to South Africa on an incentive trip, which will cost the company almost £500,000.

The Consumers' Association said it was writing the letter against the backdrop of unease created in the marketplace by reports of overseas broker junkets, which it said appeared to be increasing.

"The association is disturbed that these controversial canvassing methods are, apparently, openly supported by many insurance brokers in the marketplace and notably by their representative organisations," Mr Kilcoyne wrote. "There appears to be little understanding or sensitivity to the interference these matters cause to the integrity of independent advice, and consumer confidence in it."

While conceding that an independent firm cannot be prevented from accepting an inducement, he suggested that the junkets should be specifically targeted by the Central Bank. "We refer in particular to expanding your Code of Conduct rules 5.24 on soft commissions," Mr Kilcoyne said in the letter to the Bank.