ORIS Blog · WhatsApp, renewals and compliance for brokers

Where to start, depending on your brokerage

This blog is written for principals, account handlers and compliance officers in insurance brokerages that already talk to clients on WhatsApp, or are about to. Each article starts from a real operating question, links to the legislation and official pages it relies on (FCA, FSCA, Information Regulator, ICO, NAMFISA, IRA…) and shows its publication date. Three ways in:

Brokerages in South Africa

The POPIA Act for brokers: the eight conditions and what each one asks of you.
FAIS record-keeping for WhatsApp conversations: what to archive and for how long.
Lapse risk after an unpaid debit order, and the same-day follow-up.
Setting up WhatsApp Business in a South African brokerage.

Brokerages in the UK and Ireland

Insurance broking software: what a small UK brokerage should test before signing.
The Consumer Duty's four outcomes and the evidence on each client file.
Archiving WhatsApp under ICOBS and SYSC, before a complaint reaches the Ombudsman.
In Ireland, the Consumer Protection Code and WhatsApp.

Brokerages elsewhere in Africa

Kenya: M-Pesa, IRA rules and premium reminders.
Namibia: FIMA, NAMFISA and WhatsApp compliance.
Nigeria: NAICOM and the NDPA 2023; Ghana: NIC rules and mobile money.

Country-level rules are gathered in the country pages. These articles inform; they do not replace legal advice or the texts that apply to you. Our editorial method explains how they are written, sourced and corrected.

Featured · Compliance and regulation

FAIS certificate for South African brokers: requirements, exams and registration

There is no single FAIS certificate. What a South African broker needs: FSP licence, RE1 or RE5, qualification, training and a section 13 confirmation.

26 October 2026 · 8 min read

There is no single document called a "FAIS certificate". When people in South African insurance say they are "FAIS certified" or need their FAIS certificate, they mean one of two things: the FSP licence that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issues to a brokerage under section 8 of the FAIS Act, or the set of competence records that lets an individual act as a representative of that brokerage. An individu…

Where to start: a brokerage's core journeys

Use case · Follow-ups and renewals

Premium reminders on WhatsApp: the full journey for a brokerage

How a brokerage chases premiums due on WhatsApp: a 10-day, 3-day and overdue cadence, sample messages, Meta template rules and how ORIS organises it.

Use case · Follow-ups and renewals

Policy renewal on WhatsApp: announce, review, confirm

How to run a brokerage renewal cycle on WhatsApp: the 60-day list, cover review, renewal terms, handling objections, confirmation and document delivery.

Use case · Follow-ups and renewals

Failed debit order, unpaid premium: chasing on WhatsApp without losing the client

Returned debit order, failed card payment or missing mobile-money transfer: a brokerage's WhatsApp follow-up, from first message to reinstatement or lapse.

Use case · Claims and client service

Claim follow-up on WhatsApp: keeping the client informed at every stage

Notification, documents, assessment, settlement: a brokerage's WhatsApp journey for following up a claim, with sample messages, Meta rules and pitfalls.

Comparison

Generic CRM vs WhatsApp CRM: which one suits an insurance brokerage?

Horizontal sales CRM with a WhatsApp add-on, or a CRM built around WhatsApp for brokers: pipeline, shared inbox, templates, opt-in, cost, integrations.

Comparison

WhatsApp Business app vs WhatsApp Business Platform (API): which one for a brokerage?

Free app on one phone or the Business Platform (API) with software: cost, templates, 24-hour window, team access, records. Which fits your brokerage?

All articles

Compliance and regulation

RE1 exam for South African brokers: prerequisites, coverage and how to pass

The RE1 exam for FSPs, key individuals and compliance officers: when to pass it, the 80-question format, the 65% pass mark, the 16 tasks and a study plan.

25 October 2026 · 9 min read

Compliance and regulation

FAIS Ombud: how a complaint against your brokerage is handled, and how to answer it

How the FAIS Ombud works for a South African brokerage: what it can hear, how a complaint moves to a determination, and the file you must produce.

24 October 2026 · 8 min read

Compliance and regulation

How to check your name on the FSCA register: a step-by-step guide for brokers and representatives

Check your name on the FSCA register: where the FAIS search sits, searching by ID number or FSP number, reading the result and fixing a wrong entry.

23 October 2026 · 8 min read

Compliance and regulation

RE5 exam for South African brokers: who writes it, what it covers and how to pass

The RE5 exam for South African brokerages: who must write it, the two-year deadline, the eight tasks tested, the 33 out of 50 pass mark and a study plan.

22 October 2026 · 8 min read

Compliance and regulation

The FAIS Act explained for insurance brokers: licence, fit and proper, records and the Ombud

The FAIS Act 37 of 2002 for brokers: FSP licence, representatives, fit and proper, compliance officer, five-year records and the FAIS Ombud.

21 October 2026 · 8 min read

Compliance and regulation

TCF principles: the six Treating Customers Fairly outcomes, applied to a brokerage

Treating Customers Fairly in South Africa: the six TCF outcomes, what each one asks of a brokerage and the evidence to keep, including on WhatsApp.

21 October 2026 · 6 min read

Compliance and regulation

FAIS representative: the definition, the register, and who in your brokerage it covers

Who counts as a representative under the FAIS Act, who the admin carve-out excludes, and what section 13 requires before anyone advises on WhatsApp.

18 October 2026 · 10 min read

Compliance and regulation

The Long-term Insurance Act for brokers: the sections that still apply, and how they show up on WhatsApp

The Long-term Insurance Act sections that still bind South African brokers, from inducements to premiums, commission and lapses, applied to WhatsApp.

4 October 2026 · 10 min read

Compliance and regulation

The POPIA Act for South African brokers: the eight conditions and what each one asks of you

What the POPIA Act asks of a South African brokerage: the eight conditions for lawful processing, a practical check for each, and WhatsApp examples.

24 September 2026 · 8 min read

Claims and client service

Your client has died: who may instruct the brokerage, and what POPIA no longer covers

POPIA stops protecting a client at death; your duty of confidentiality does not. Who may instruct you, which policies lapse, and what the Master requires.

13 September 2026 · 8 min read

Retention and loyalty

Medical scheme broker fees in 2026: what a healthcare book actually pays

What a scheme may pay an accredited healthcare broker from 1 January 2026, what that fee buys, and how a member can switch it off in one message.

13 September 2026 · 8 min read

AI for brokers

Is your AI inbox furnishing automated advice? The FAIS test, and section 38

An AI answering clients on WhatsApp can put a brokerage inside section 38 of the fit and proper rules. The FAIS advice test, and what applies beyond it.

12 September 2026 · 9 min read

WhatsApp Business

Templates in your clients’ languages: what Meta supports, and what it does not

Meta needs one template per language and translates nothing. Which African language codes exist, which do not, and how a brokerage builds a library.

12 September 2026 · 8 min read

Running the brokerage

FICA in a brokerage: are you an accountable institution, and what if you are not?

Schedule 1 of the FIC Act was rewritten in 2022. Work out whether your brokerage is an accountable institution, and the duties that bind you either way.

11 September 2026 · 8 min read

Follow-ups and renewals

No premium, no cover: building a reminder calendar for Uganda and Tanzania

Uganda requires the premium before inception; Tanzania voids a policy unpaid after seven days. How a brokerage builds its reminder calendar around that.

11 September 2026 · 7 min read

Retention and loyalty

Replacement business: what PPR rule 19 asks of your brokerage

Rule 19 puts a 14-day paper loop between two insurers whenever a risk policy is replaced. What counts as a replacement, and what the record has to show.

10 September 2026 · 9 min read

Sales and prospecting

Sectional title schemes: the insurance a body corporate must actually carry

Fire cover is only the statutory floor. What the STSMA and management rule 23 oblige a body corporate to insure, and the checks that decide a claim.

10 September 2026 · 9 min read

Compliance and regulation

Debarring a representative under FAIS section 14: the order of events, and the file

A representative leaves under a cloud. Section 14 of the FAIS Act tells a brokerage what to do, in what order, and by when to notify the FSCA.

9 September 2026 · 8 min read

Claims and client service

Power surge or grid failure? What your client’s policy actually covers

Loss of supply, a surge on restoration and a grid collapse are three different events on a South African policy. What a broker checks before answering.

9 September 2026 · 7 min read

AI for brokers

Before an AI tool touches your client book: the POPIA questions to put to a vendor

A demo tells you nothing about where client data goes. The POPIA operator, security and cross-border questions a South African brokerage should ask.

7 September 2026 · 9 min read

Claims and client service

Repudiated for non-disclosure: what a South African broker’s file has to show

An insurer declines a claim for non-disclosure. What section 53 obliges it to prove, what your inception file must show, and the claims clocks that follow.

7 September 2026 · 10 min read

Follow-ups and renewals

Collecting premiums yourself: what section 45 asks of a South African brokerage

Written authority, security, a premium-only bank account and returns within 15 days: what a South African brokerage needs before collecting a premium.

6 September 2026 · 8 min read

WhatsApp Business

SIM swap and account takeover: protecting the number your clients message

How a brokerage loses its WhatsApp number to a SIM swap, a phished code or a linked device — the settings that stop it, and what POPIA requires afterwards.

6 September 2026 · 7 min read

Running the brokerage

FAIS CPD: planning the cycle that closes on 31 May

What the FAIS CPD cycle asks of a small South African brokerage: six, twelve or eighteen hours, what actually counts, and the competence register deadline.

5 September 2026 · 8 min read

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The blog for brokers who work on WhatsApp

Where to start, depending on your brokerage

Brokerages in South Africa

Brokerages in the UK and Ireland

Brokerages elsewhere in Africa

FAIS certificate for South African brokers: requirements, exams and registration

Where to start: a brokerage's core journeys

Premium reminders on WhatsApp: the full journey for a brokerage

Policy renewal on WhatsApp: announce, review, confirm

Failed debit order, unpaid premium: chasing on WhatsApp without losing the client

Claim follow-up on WhatsApp: keeping the client informed at every stage

Generic CRM vs WhatsApp CRM: which one suits an insurance brokerage?

WhatsApp Business app vs WhatsApp Business Platform (API): which one for a brokerage?

All articles

RE1 exam for South African brokers: prerequisites, coverage and how to pass

FAIS Ombud: how a complaint against your brokerage is handled, and how to answer it

How to check your name on the FSCA register: a step-by-step guide for brokers and representatives

RE5 exam for South African brokers: who writes it, what it covers and how to pass

The FAIS Act explained for insurance brokers: licence, fit and proper, records and the Ombud

TCF principles: the six Treating Customers Fairly outcomes, applied to a brokerage

FAIS representative: the definition, the register, and who in your brokerage it covers

The Long-term Insurance Act for brokers: the sections that still apply, and how they show up on WhatsApp

The POPIA Act for South African brokers: the eight conditions and what each one asks of you

Your client has died: who may instruct the brokerage, and what POPIA no longer covers

Medical scheme broker fees in 2026: what a healthcare book actually pays

Is your AI inbox furnishing automated advice? The FAIS test, and section 38

Templates in your clients’ languages: what Meta supports, and what it does not

FICA in a brokerage: are you an accountable institution, and what if you are not?

No premium, no cover: building a reminder calendar for Uganda and Tanzania

Replacement business: what PPR rule 19 asks of your brokerage

Sectional title schemes: the insurance a body corporate must actually carry

Debarring a representative under FAIS section 14: the order of events, and the file

Power surge or grid failure? What your client’s policy actually covers

Before an AI tool touches your client book: the POPIA questions to put to a vendor

Repudiated for non-disclosure: what a South African broker’s file has to show

Collecting premiums yourself: what section 45 asks of a South African brokerage

SIM swap and account takeover: protecting the number your clients message

FAIS CPD: planning the cycle that closes on 31 May