The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has today started civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Allianz Australia and AWP Australia for the alleged misleading sale of travel insurance, sold through three websites run by Expedia.

ASIC says the conduct concerns alleged breaches of the Corporations Act and the ASIC Act relating to misleading and deceptive conduct and general licence obligations.

The regulator alleges that, in respect of certain travel insurance products sold through the Expedia websites in the period February 2015 to September 2018:

- Allianz failed to correctly disclose the basis upon which premiums were calculated in the product disclosure statements that were made available on the websites

- Allianz and/or AWP allowed the sale of insurance to customers who were ineligible to make claims under the policies; and

- Allianz and/or AWP allowed the Expedia websites to misuse a quote from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about the importance of purchasing travel insurance.

ASIC says it is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties against Allianz and AWP.

The first case management hearing is yet to be listed by the Court.