A wholesale client is a client who is not treated as a retail client for the relevant financial product or financial service under the Corporations Act.

The classification is applied to the particular product or service rather than simply labelling someone a wholesale client for every insurance transaction.

How does it work for general insurance? #

General insurance has specific retail-client rules.

Broadly, certain prescribed insurance products provided to an individual or small business are treated as retail.

General insurance outside those specified categories is generally dealt with on a wholesale basis for the purposes of those rules.

Is being a business enough to make someone wholesale? #

No.

A small business can be a retail client for certain prescribed types of general insurance.

The classification therefore depends on both the client and the type of insurance involved.

The familiar asset and income tests used in some other areas of financial services are not the main test for determining retail status for general insurance products.

General insurance has its own provisions under the Corporations Act.

Different regulatory obligations can apply to retail and wholesale clients, including disclosure, advice and documentation requirements.

You can also read What is a Retail Client in general insurance?.

Contact our team if you have questions about your client classification.