Wobbly lines: the market’s key trouble spots
20 May 2019
Capacity constraints continue to bedevil a number of business classes as insurers try to improve their bottom lines and back out of difficult markets…
Analysis
Avoiding economic disaster: the true value of insurance
13 May 2019
We see plenty of good news stories showing how insurance companies help get individual homeowners or businesses back on their feet following a natural catastrophe…
Lloyd’s plots a course through troubled waters
06 May 2019
Lloyd’s has faced some home truths and presented a vision for change in its bid for a more prosperous future, after a few years it might rather forget…
Designed to help: AI and the rise of the ‘cobots’
29 April 2019
Artificial intelligence and robotics are changing the world, and the insurance industry had better change with it…
Rise of the ‘secondary’ nat cat threat
15 April 2019
Losses aside, last December’s near $1.2 billion hailstorm in Sydney has a far more chilling message for Australian insurers: better get used to it…
SME survey: brokers confront their trust issues
08 April 2019
Brokers have received some tough feedback in the latest Vero SME Insurance Index, with declining trust levels and small businesses increasingly buying cover from the direct market…
Seeking the final word on consumer advice
01 April 2019
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission report on consumer confusion around general and personal advice is another step towards solving a problem that continues to cause angst…
Is climate change causing slow-motion cyclones?
25 March 2019
Global warming is changing our weather in so many ways – but one of the most concerning is its impact on cyclones…
No holding back: it’s tech time for brokers
18 March 2019
Brokers are set to adopt technological innovation at a faster pace than has so far been experienced so far as the relatively buoyant insurance market provides them with a stronger foundation for investment…
Long road ahead on consumer reforms
11 March 2019
There’s little dispute that standard cover arrangements aren’t much help to consumers trying to choose between policies, but responses to a Treasury discussion paper show that finding a better way forward will not be simple…
Deciphering Hayne’s code with legal teeth
04 March 2019
General insurance was an early adopter of the code-of-practice concept, which basically allowed the industry to set standards and self-regulate…
Full disclosure: The Hayne fallout continues
25 February 2019
The ramifications of the Hayne royal commission are still becoming clear three weeks after the release of its final report…
‘Tricky tactics’ in the Townsville blame game
18 February 2019
A cold realisation is seeping out of north Queensland as Townsville begins its recovery from its unprecedented floods – most inundated businesses did not insure for flood and could be facing ruin as a result…
Hayne report: a jolt for the industry, but few shocks
11 February 2019
The dust is still settling after the Hayne royal commission’s final report swept over the financial services industry, but now that everyone has had a chance to stand back and consider the results, the consensus is that few of the findings were unexpected…
Industry barometer: leaning into the headwinds
04 February 2019
Commercial premiums climbed at a greater pace than expected last year and are set for further gains, according to a relatively positive JP Morgan Taylor Fry General Insurance Barometer…
The battlefields of 2019
10 December 2018
For the general insurance industry, 2018 has been a year of recovering revenues for insurers and growing uncertainties for brokers. While insurers in Australia have led the world in raising premiums after a long period in the doldrums, brokers are moving into 2019 with the twin threats of competition and hostile regulatory action hanging over them…
NSW fire services levy: rising from the ashes?
03 December 2018
Reforms to the NSW emergency services levy on insurance were officially “dead, buried and cremated” after last year’s highly controversial decision to scrap them…
Insuring against failure: the terrorist threat to Australia
26 November 2018
Melbourne’s deadly Bourke Street attack, closely followed by arrests aimed at foiling a separate plot, have reignited the terrorism debate…
Cycle holds course, but uncertain terrain awaits
19 November 2018
Australian insurers have received an upbeat assessment in KPMG’s annual review of the industry, with profits still rising and the sector well placed to handle fallout from the Hayne royal commission…
Royal commission submissions: a summary
12 November 2018
The Hayne royal commission website has been flooded with hundreds of submissions in recent days…