Brokers caught napping in the classroom
04 May 2015
It is rare for a conference speech to be discussed long after it was delivered, let alone set in motion the impetus for radical change…
Analysis
A rallying cry for brokers
27 April 2015
Suncorp Commercial Insurance CEO Anthony Day has challenged brokers to “go on the attack” in the face of technological change and greater competition…
Professional education is the key to brokers’ future
20 April 2015
Broker education and the best way to deliver it is a much-debated issue that isn’t going to go away. If it’s not addressed and some serious blockages cleared, brokers will be the losers…
All quiet on the northern front… for now
13 April 2015
It’s hard to imagine less fanfare for a government initiative…
Cyber: too hot to handle?
30 March 2015
As the cyber threat continues to grow, so does the suggestion the private insurance market may not be able to cope with it…
Disaster mitigation: the world’s best-laid plan
23 March 2015
After 30 hours of negotiation in Sendai, Japan, representatives from 187 United Nations member states – including Australia – put their names to a 15-year framework to tackle global disaster risk…
Brokers must click with the digital generation
16 March 2015
“Do-it-yourself” owners of small businesses increasingly investigate their own insurance needs, leaving brokers potentially vulnerable, according to this year’s Vero SME Insurance Index…
The fine line between help and advice
09 March 2015
The Insurance Council of Australia’s annual Regulatory Update seminar is unmissable for anyone wanting a pointer to the industry’s emerging issues, and this year’s event suggests insurers face pressure to give consumers more personalised advice and take greater responsibility for who buys their products…
‘Same old same old’ on north Queensland. Or is it?
02 March 2015
The yawning gulf between the industry and Federal Government over the north Queensland insurance affordability issue was the elephant in the room at the Insurance Council of Australia’s annual Regulatory Update conference in Sydney on Friday…
Insurance CEOs have much to prove
23 February 2015
The CEOs of the world’s biggest companies are facing challenging times amid a volatile and often unpredictable global economy – and the rapidly transforming insurance marketplace is throwing up more than its fair share of challenges to insurance and reinsurance leaders…
Seeking clarity on a murky issue
16 February 2015
Nearly 50 brokers and lawyers attended a seminar in Brisbane on unauthorised foreign insurers last week. There’s a huge amount of interest in UFIs among brokers, and the Brisbane seminar revealed an amount of nervousness about whether the Federal Government’s initiative will address the north Queensland insurance affordability problem…
Big beasts emerge as the reinsurance landscape firms
09 February 2015
A reshaped reinsurance market is no longer the subject of speculation – it has arrived, and it is not going anywhere else soon…
The industry’s barometer points to gloomy days ahead
02 February 2015
On a grey, rainy day in Sydney last week, insurance analysts gathered in a plush investment bank boardroom and tried to smile as they delivered their first media briefing for the year – but the news was as resoundingly glum as the weather…
North Queensland: a competition with no prizes
15 December 2014
The Australian Government Actuary’s third report on north Queensland insurance pricing contains some basic pointers to how insurance works. Unfortunately, it’s cold comfort to residents who have seen premiums soar and politicians who don't understand insurance…
Lawyers’ PI: is one slice enough?
08 December 2014
The lawyers’ professional indemnity market suffers from too much regulation and too little competition, according to the Productivity Commission…
Why personal injury should be a private matter
01 December 2014
Suncorp has stepped up a campaign to have state and territory-owned personal injury schemes privatised, with external research showing billions of dollars in national economic benefits are there for the taking…
A leak in the premium pool
24 November 2014
A data “arms race” and the decline of physical assets are preying on the minds of insurer chief executives…
UFIs: a simple solution with explosive consequences
17 November 2014
A flurry of interest ran around the industry last week when the Australian Financial Review quoted a briefing note from “one of the country’s largest insurers” warning of the dangers of insuring households through unauthorised foreign insurers…
Going public on privacy – but is anyone listening?
10 November 2014
The Australian Law Reform Commission’s long-awaited final report on privacy invasion includes a detailed plan for a new course of action…
Building advice: between a rock and a hard place
03 November 2014
Consumers tend to pick up the phone to ask about home building insurance to “talk to a human because they want to consult, clarify or verify,” research for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission says…