National Insurance Brokers

National Insurance Brokers is a specialist insurance broker based in Santa Venera, a central town close to Malta's main roads. It arranges motor, home, health, travel, boat and business insurance and has offices in Rabat, Għaxaq, Birkirkara and Marsa as well as its head office. For a UK reader, the useful point is that a broker works for the customer rather than for an insurer, so it can compare what is on offer and recommend a policy.

The firm is a young company with experienced people. Its licence dates from 1 February 2018, but the team comes from established agencies and insurers in Malta, and the firm has contacts and business with foreign brokers and insurers. You can compare it with other firms in our insurance directory for Malta.

What a broker does here

National Insurance Brokers acts on behalf of its clients and in their sole interest. As a licensed broker it works with all the local insurance companies and with foreign insurers to find the covers available in the market, then proposes the best fit for each customer's requirements. The firm stresses a personalised, customer centred service, with tailor made solutions built around the client's risks and needs.

The firm offers a wide range of options from top market players in Malta and abroad, drawing on its team's collective experience. It is enrolled to carry on insurance broking under the supervision of the Malta Financial Services Authority, and its terms of business and a disclosure of information document are available to clients. To see how this regulation fits into the wider sector, read our overview of financial services in Malta.

Insurance lines

The services menu covers six lines. Motor insurance is promoted with the idea of the right cover at the right price for your car. Health insurance is presented as a way to protect your health, and the site invites you to consider the benefits of holding a policy. Business insurance is for firms that face risk every day and want peace of mind, and home insurance is aimed at people whose furnishings and belongings represent a large personal investment.

Boat insurance is aimed at owners who want to sail with confidence, and the website asks whether sailing skills alone are enough. If you keep a boat in Malta, our Malta weather guide gives a sense of the seasons you will be sailing in, and our Gozo guide describes a popular destination for a day trip by sea. Travel insurance completes the list. Each line has its own quote request form, and there is a renewal form for existing clients. Requests are answered by brokers who check quotations with the insurers, negotiate terms where needed and compare the options for you, then follow up to make sure the policy documents match what was agreed. At renewal time the team reminds clients so cover does not lapse, and mid-term changes can be arranged through the same people.

Leadership and experience

Judith Galea, an Associate and Chartered Insurer of the Chartered Insurance Institute in the UK, is Managing Director. She has more than 20 years in insurance, including time as chief executive of Allcare Insurance Agency and then Allcare Insurance, and later roles at Mapfre Middlesea, where she became Chief Officer of the commercial area in 2017. She has handled large risks such as hotels, major engineering projects, commercial hull and machinery, and motor fleets.

David Borg Saydon is Business Development Director. He has over 20 years in the industry, including underwriting and sales management at Allcare, and he ran his own business as a tied insurance intermediary for Mapfre Middlesea before joining the broker in 2018. He is also a qualified fire expert, having studied firefighting and fire investigation with institutes in the UK, Europe and the USA, and a member of the Civil Protection Department and is often appointed as a court expert and fire loss investigator.

Antoine Portelli, a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, is Finance Director and Company Secretary. He has led finance departments in hospitality, construction and real estate groups, was involved in two bond issues, and spent time at the Corinthia Group, MIDI plc and the Polidano and Alberta groups before joining the Fortel Group, where he is Group Chief Operating Officer.

Joanna Galea holds a Certificate in Insurance from the Chartered Insurance Institute and has more than 13 years in the industry. She began in non-motor claims at Laferla Insurance Agency, moved to Allcare Insurance Agency, where she became manager of personal lines, and then joined Mapfre Middlesea, working at the Luqa regional office and later the corporate business office. She now manages technical matters and operations. Daniel Cutajar Galea studied the insurance diploma course at MCAST, also holds the Chartered Insurance Institute certificate and supervises fleets, marine, life and branches while handling motor and personal lines business.

The board

The board has five members drawn from insurance, finance and business. Besides Judith Galea, David Borg Saydon and Antoine Portelli, it includes Edward Zammit Tabona, an executive director who returned to Malta in 2005 after studying in the UK and is now chief executive of the Fortel Group of companies, with interests in hotels, leisure, tourism and transport. The fifth member, Sharlon Pace, is a non-executive director whose career spans hospitality, a recording house, property development and restaurants, and who set up a boutique hostel in Balluta that has operated since June 2016.

The firm values people as its biggest asset, and its aim is to employ qualified, ethical staff with a focus on the customer. If you are exploring Malta for business, our guide to the corporate tax structure explains the setting in which many commercial clients operate.

Claims, complaints and regulation

Clients can send a claims enquiry through an online form. The firm also has a formal complaints procedure. You speak or write to one of the senior brokers, quoting your policy or claim number, and receive feedback normally within 24 hours and no later than two business days. If you are still dissatisfied, you can submit a consumer complaints form to the Managing Director. The form asks for your name or company name, an ID or company registration number, the type of policy, the policy or claim number, the staff member who handled your first complaint and the nature of the problem, and it can be filled in online or printed and posted. The firm acknowledges it within three business days and normally replies in full within a week, longer if insurers have to be consulted.

If the outcome does not resolve the matter, you may take it to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in Msida, and the procedure does not affect your right to take legal action.

Offices and how to start

The head office is at the ATL Business Centre on Cannon Road in Santa Venera. The Rabat branch is at 59 Triq Buzugrilla, which is handy for readers who have read our Mdina and Rabat guide. Other branches are at 272 Dawret Ħal-Għaxaq in Għaxaq, 32 Triq Tumas Fenech in Birkirkara and the OYIA Business Centre on Cross Road in Marsa. Opening hours are not printed.

If you are relocating, our Malta relocation guide and guide to Malta tax for UK nationals explain the other steps involved. To ask about insurance, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to National Insurance Brokers.