The industry has asked for more time to implement outstanding Hayne royal commission reforms, saying the pressing task right now is to help customers affected by the virus pandemic and last summer’s natural disasters.

But consumer advocates have slammed the suggestion, saying any delays to the proposed reforms are “simply not warranted” and that the draft bills should be tabled at the next sitting of Parliament on May 12.

At last month’s House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics hearings, Insurance Council of Australia CEO Rob Whelan said the industry had written to Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg “seeking a delay to the timeframes for implementation of the Royal Commission legislation to July 1 2022”.

“In this time of immense disruption, the resources of insurers must be focused on helping customers and ensuring claims are handled efficiently and fairly,” Mr Whelan said in his opening statement at the hearings.

“Even during a pandemic, customers lodge claims and need our support, and it is far from business as usual. Most of the industry is working from home, and centralised call centres have had to be closed. This is affecting response times, claims handling and other services.”

According to Mr Whelan, the industry has been working collaboratively with the Government to strengthen community trust and confidence in the industry.

But consumer advocates see it differently, saying the increase in General Insurance Code of Practice breaches in the last financial year prove there should be no further delay to implementing reforms.

“These damning statistics demonstrate that the harmful practices exposed by the financial services royal commission continue in the general insurance industry,” Consumer Action Law Centre Insurance Policy Officer Tom Abourizk told insuranceNEWS.com.au today.

“Implementing law reforms to protect consumers by imposing a meaningful deterrent on harmful behaviour is essential to improve consumer outcomes in insurance.”

According to the Code Governance Committee’s annual report, the number of reported breaches increased to 31,186 in the last financial year from 13,668 in the previous 12 months.