Insurance in South Africa is governed by the Financial Services Board. The Financial Services Board was constituted by the Financial Services Board Act, 97 of 1990. The Financial Services Board is an independent institution, formed to govern non-banking financial institutions in South Africa, including insurance. The South African Insurance Association was established over a hundred years ago and serves as the mouthpiece for most insurance companies in South Africa. Their website is filled with information on insuring in South Africa, including helpful links to numerous government websites to verify that your broker and/or insurer are legitimate. Since many insurance companies in South Africa now offer consumers the opportunity to insure directly, this effectively cuts out brokers, saving consumers administration and broker fees. This has proven to be incredibly effective in the South African Insurance market. This has also allowed for the creation of insurance quotation comparison websites. These websites have greatly eased the process of comparing insurance quotes.