Downturn spurs surge in management liability claims
07 December 2009
Management liability lines are feeling the strain after the global downturn precipitated a surge in new claims…
Analysis
System shift will test mettle at Suncorp
30 November 2009
Apart from anything else, Suncorp CEO Patrick Snowball’s market announcement last week should see the retreat of some tanks from his lawn regarding the speculated sale of the…
QBE can afford to sit back and wait
23 November 2009
It’s remarkable how far and how fast a market rumour can travel…
IAG back in the good books
16 November 2009
IAG is heading in the right direction after rebuilding from a horror 2007/08 financial year…
The hardening insurance market: an urban myth
09 November 2009
Actions speak louder than words. That’s the implicit message to those insurers who continue to talk up rates in the insurance market…
Snowball’s commitment to banking may be hard to avoid
02 November 2009
It was with a distinctive mix of military and suburban references that new Suncorp CEO Patrick Snowball last week declared the group’s commitment to its banking operations…
ACC competition plan spawns NZ political storm
26 October 2009
The New Zealand Government is moving quickly to open up its monopoly personal injury insurer, the Accident Compensation Corporation, to competition…
The story behind APRA’s judicial belting
19 October 2009
Contrary to popular legend, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority wasn’t found to have been a party to the collapse of HIH in March 2001…
Clarity the key to regulatory compliance
12 October 2009
A constant stream of “soft” regulation is preventing insurers from maximising their compliance investment, according to a study by the University of Technology Sydney…
No dispute over professional indemnity squeeze
05 October 2009
The sharp rise in financial services complaints highlighted by the Financial Ombudsman Service’s 2008/09 review serves to underline the impending crunch in professional indemnity…
Staying away from the regulatory whirlpool
28 September 2009
The insurance industry in Australia has been caught before in regulatory whirlpools that were intended for its cousins in banking and funds management…
Where to for builders’ warranty insurance?
21 September 2009
Another damning review of compulsory builders’ warranty insurance has highlighted government dithering over privatised last-resort schemes…
Consumer protection: not out of the woods yet
14 September 2009
While the insurance industry can take some comfort in its exemption from new federal consumer legislation, it still has to provide a convincing argument that two sets of laws…
The retail road to selling insurance
07 September 2009
Two of Australia’s most well known brands – Australia Post and Coles – announced last week plans to sell retail insurance products from their thousands of retail outlets…
The merging face of loss adjusting
31 August 2009
The news last week that major loss adjusters McLarens Young International and Freemans have at last finalised their merger arrangements was hardly a surprise…
QBE casts a shadow over the big three
24 August 2009
Local insurers' salad days are over…
Victoria’s $500 million levy question
17 August 2009
Is it possible to conceive a state government giving up a $500 million off-budget source of revenue..?
El Nino a harbinger of drought and bushfire
10 August 2009
The next El Nino, currently consolidating in the Pacific, is set to bring a hotter and drier summer to Australia than the one we have just experienced…
Chartis provides a safe map forward for AIG
03 August 2009
There is something very positive about the name Chartis…
Builders’ warranty – minor product, major pain
27 July 2009
The withdrawal of Lumley Insurance and CGU from the builders’ warranty insurance market has again thrown the spotlight onto an already controversial product…