New year, new hope
01 February 2016
Last year was extremely tough for Australian general insurers – and this one won’t exactly be a walk in the park…
Analysis
Dear Santa... the industry’s Christmas wish list
14 December 2015
As a challenging and eventful year draws to a close, insurance industry leaders will go to their annual breaks with Christmas wish lists full of gifts to help make 2016 a little less challenging and eventful…
Too long; didn’t read – ICA tackles the PDS conundrum
07 December 2015
Telling consumers exactly what their policy covers them for, and what it doesn’t, seemed like such a good idea when it was first mooted in 2001…
Global economy points to brighter future
30 November 2015
It may not feel like it in the current market, but the future for insurance premium growth is bright…
Broker education: making history or stuck in the past?
23 November 2015
The agreement on broker education between the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and the National Insurance Brokers Association was a long time coming…
Still weathering the storms
16 November 2015
Buckle up and sit tight. That may well be the mantra for insurers in Australia as they brace for what could be another challenging year ahead…
Insurance taxes: the latest shot in an interminable battle
09 November 2015
By rights, insurance-based taxes in Australia should be long gone…
Finding strength in adversity
02 November 2015
It has been a tough year for Australian general insurers, and it’s not about to get any easier…
Scorched-earth policies
26 October 2015
Last month the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre predicted a severe bushfire season for much of southern Australia, as the effects of El Nino are combined with a long-term rainfall deficit…
Broking’s young guns aim for the future
19 October 2015
Insurance broking is in the midst of a major transformation, with intense competition and digital technology forcing businesses to adapt at a furious pace…
A premium issue loaded with ideas and warnings
12 October 2015
Submissions to the Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce on insurance options in the region are a mixed bag, with plenty of opinions proffered from a variety of stakeholders…
Cyber risk: hot trend demands a super model
05 October 2015
Assessing the cost of cyber breaches is arguably the toughest task insurers have on their hands right now…
North Queensland premiums: what problem?
28 September 2015
The issue of high insurance premiums in north Queensland has been bubbling away for several years, with solutions canvassed by the Federal Government ranging from expensive but harmless (a comparator website) to downright dangerous (admitting unlicensed foreign insurers into the market)…
Reinsurance Rendezvous: le nouveau normale?
21 September 2015
It seems nobody dares say it too loudly, but there was whispered talk of better times ahead at the Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo…
The AR elephant in the broker room
14 September 2015
All authorised representatives are not created equal, and many brokers believe the time is coming when the industry regulator will have to sort out a muddle over exactly what an insurance broker is…
Premium funding laid bare
07 September 2015
Premium funding is a crucial cog in the workings of the insurance industry that deserves much more attention…
Steadfast and Austbrokers: much the same, but growing different
31 August 2015
When Steadfast listed in 2013 the general expectation was the broker group would follow the very successful “owner-driver” model of arch-rival Austbrokers…
Northern Australia premiums: how much will this cost taxpayers?
24 August 2015
The Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce interim report, released by the Federal Government last week, doesn’t say anything we didn’t already know or couldn’t figure out for ourselves…
Cyber risks: mind the gap
17 August 2015
Everyone agrees data breaches and cyber attacks are on the increase, and that the size of potential losses is vast. Why then is take-up of cyber insurance still so low?…
The newspaper analyst: a cautionary tale
10 August 2015
“Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers” is true enough. So is the comment by the British poet Alexander Pope in his Essay on Criticism: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”…