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Analysis

Small business battles spur calls for government action

14 December 2020

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has warned insurance market failure is causing a national crisis that needs to be addressed, and has taken calls for government action to a new level...

Tougher times put the ball in insureds’ court

07 December 2020

With premiums rising and terms and conditions tightening, pressure is increasing on businesses to reduce their potential risks and put themselves at the head of the queue in securing cover...

End of the beginning: BI case has a long way to go

23 November 2020

Last week’s NSW Court of Appeal judgment in a test case over business interruption cover for COVID-19 comes as a first-round loss for insurers in a fight that has a long way to run, and which is opening up on multiple fronts...

Still not quite out of the woods: study flags dangers ahead

16 November 2020

Swiss Re has struck a cautiously upbeat tone in its latest Sigma study, revising its previously downbeat outlook for the insurance industry on expectations that the worst of the economic devastation of the pandemic is over…

Senate inquiry delivers a mixed message for insurers

12 October 2020

A politically divided Senate inquiry into the last bushfire season has delivered an interim report which notes the importance of disaster mitigation while delivering a few backhanders to the insurance industry along the way...

Risk list goes viral as climate change slips out of focus

05 October 2020

Infectious diseases and the global pandemic have soared up the ranks in Axa’s latest survey of most pressing global risks, with COVID-19 triggering a dramatic jump in health concerns to first place from eighth, knocking climate change from the top spot...

UK case set to boost pandemic BI payments

21 September 2020

Amid the assessments following the complex UK High Court test case judgment last week on business interruption there have been a few clear messages...

Quiet Monte Carlo reflects a sombre reinsurance season

14 September 2020

Hopes for a festive mood at the annual Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous de Septembre have been doubly dashed this year, with the event cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and reinsurers facing tough times despite long-awaited rising rates...

What next for QBE after a devastating week?

07 September 2020

QBE’s announcement last week that Group CEO Pat Regan will depart over “poor judgment” involving a female employee marks a rapid and remarkable unravelling of a previously successful partnership...

Fighting fraud through blockchain

31 August 2020

Blockchain has been spotlighted as one of the most important technological trends in Australia, but the insurance industry has somehow been slower to embrace blockchain than other industries, such as finance...

Bad news: pandemic infects the industry’s reputation

17 August 2020

We’ve all seen the headlines. Across the world from the US to the UK, mainstream media news titles have been all too eager to attack the insurance industry’s perceived failings as coronavirus and associated shutdowns took a heavy toll...

IAG’s next big challenge: succession

10 August 2020

With the results for IAG’s financial year behind them, the group’s directors now have another major matter to settle – who will lead the group into what MD Peter Harmer has described as “an increasingly complex and dynamic environment”...

Looking beyond lab-focused 'pet' projects

03 August 2020

Insurers have moved beyond putting a toe in the water when it comes to insurtech partnerships, but are yet to take the full plunge when it comes to widescale adoption of innovation, the third annual Australian Insurtech Ecosystem Report suggests...