Willis some months ago announced it would no longer accept such fees from insurers in the wake of civil action by the New York Attorney General's Office, which announced that its investigation had found contingent commissions were tied to steering activity by brokers who failed to secure the best placement for clients.

"It doesn't matter if you are a regional [broker], local or anything, contingents should be over and done with," Mr. Plumeri declared.

More generally, Mr. Plumeri called on the insurance industry to reform its traditional style of doing business and to modernize, or risk becoming an anachronism, as he spoke before an audience of risk managers during the RIMS 2005 conference here.

"Tradition is great," he said, "but you need to build on it."

"We are at a crossroads," he continued. "You can either live by traditions or build on them."

He called for industry members to use courage and imagination to build a new model. "We should have an ongoing review of the industry," he said. "We need to get this right."

Discussing relationships with customers, he said the industry needs to become more transparent in its dealings.

Issues surrounding contingency fees two weeks ago led to an agreement between Willis and the New York and Minnesota attorney generals, which saw the brokerage agree to repay $51 million to clients. Willis admitted no guilt but a document filed with the agreement contained e-mails outlining a variety of steering activity by Willis as well as use of a wholesale outlet to inflate commissions.

During a news conference, after his speech, Mr. Plumeri said he made a speech a year before the investigations began, and at that time, called contingency fees a "prop" for brokers. He admitted that Willis, which is headquartered in London, should have taken the lead then.

"I should have done something then, but didn't," he admitted.

Willis was the first broker to eliminate contingency fees after Mr. Spitzer sued Marsh & McLennan Companies in October.

In his speech, Mr. Plumeri said it is critical that the client know the broker is working on its behalf. He told the risk managers that they should insist on this.

He went on to say that the industry needs to work harder at speeding up its process of issuing policies and claims processing. He said it takes an average of nine months before a written policy is issued and eight months before a claim is settled. He called these backroom functions that should be moved to the front.

Turning to regulation, he said the investigation of the insurance industry was "a healthy thing," but the number of investigators looking into the issue underscores the need for uniform regulations. He said he supported either federal chartering or the current SMART Act before Congress, meant to modernize the industry and eliminate the expensive burden of multiple regulations. He added that the economic benefit the industry would receive should be passed onto the client.

During his press conference, he referred to the creation of a central agency in Washington, D.C. "If it is not there to benefit the people it services, then what should it be there for," he said.

The industry needs to unify behind the idea of getting the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act renewed, he noted during his address. He chastised risk managers for not becoming more upset over the issue, and said that they need to rise up to support it and see it passed.

"If you get a march going, I'll be there with you," he said.