Daily
Summer catastrophes claims bill tops $5 billion
28 May 2020
Insurance claim costs from Australia’s worst summer of natural catastrophes have reached $5.19 billion, with more than 15,000 new claims worth $270 million lodged in the past four weeks...
Brokers escape premium deferral impact: NIBA
27 May 2020
Brokers have been left relatively unscathed by insurers’ premium deferral offering for coronavirus-affected SMEs because very few clients have taken it up, the National Insurance Brokers Association says...
Industry moves: prominent retirement, appointments announced
27 May 2020
Guy Carpenter stalwart Paul Allison will retire at the end of June, following 19 years’ service with the company...
Travel claims top AFCA’s coronavirus disputes list
27 May 2020
About 1070 general insurance disputes sparked by the virus pandemic have been lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), with most related to travel claim denials...
Disclosure reprieve offers little D&O relief
27 May 2020
Temporary changes to prevent opportunistic shareholder class actions over company coronavirus disclosures are unlikely to bring relief to the directors’ and officers’ insurance market, Marsh says...
$350,000 ransom paid as cyber crooks change tack
26 May 2020
Digital thieves have become more brazen since the pandemic lockdown began, cyber insurance specialist Emergence says, revealing it has made a $350,000 bitcoin payment to free a client’s system from a new strain of ransomware...
Bushfire dispute numbers 'relatively low', royal commission hears
26 May 2020
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has so far received a relatively low level of bushfire-related claims disputes, Lead Ombudsman Insurance John Price told the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements today...
EQC leaks thousands of private claims details – again
26 May 2020
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission apologised today for “unintentionally” sending thousands of private claims details to a customer and their lawyer...
AFCA ruling puts down marker on pre-existing conditions
26 May 2020
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has set out what it defines as a pre-existing medical condition in a travel insurance dispute ruling...
Study wants ‘Medicare-style’ insurance pricing
22 May 2020
A University of NSW report wants a “Medicare-style” system introduced to address the premium affordability problem in bushfire-prone areas...
Smoke, but no claim: BI appeal lost
22 May 2020
A small business which lost more than $150,000 in profit when thick smoke from bushfires on SA’s Kangaroo Island deterred tourists in January has lost its dispute over a Business Interruption claim...
Class action funders placed under AFSL regime
22 May 2020
Litigation funders will be required to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence, stepping up regulation of a sector blamed for fuelling class action activity and directors’ and officers’ insurance premium increases...
Insurers' experts to speak on Day 1 of bushfire inquiry
22 May 2020
IAG head of natural perils Mark Leplastrier and Sharanjit Paddam, who is head of Environmental, Social and Governance Risk at QBE and also convenes the Actuaries Institute Climate Change Working Group, will address the bushfires royal commission on Monday as hearings get underway...
Steadfast earnings ‘remain strong’ despite virus
21 May 2020
Steadfast Group said today in a trading update its business is performing well despite the significant impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the Australian economy...
Police, ASIC stay silent on Winley fraud
21 May 2020
Those responsible for the “misappropriation” of $8.69 million that led to the collapse of Perth authorised representative company Winley Insurance Group in 2016 will likely go unpunished by Australian authorities...
AFCA puts brakes on Mercedes 'staged accident' claim
21 May 2020
A woman whose Mercedes was written off has lost a $73,000 insurance dispute after the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ruled there was an opportunity to stage the accident...
Insurers key for post-COVID resilience: Swiss Re
21 May 2020
The insurance industry has a critical role to play in strengthening resilience as countries recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swiss Re Chief Economist Jerome Haegeli says...
Winley missing millions ‘gone for good’
20 May 2020
Attempts to recover more than $8 million that disappeared from the accounts of failed Perth authorised representative company Winley Insurance Group have been unsuccessful...
QBE wins exclusive LMI deal with big lender
20 May 2020
QBE has been selected as the exclusive provider of Lenders Mortgage Insurance to the home loan customers of National Australia Bank...
Steadfast backs Mansfield Awards
20 May 2020
Steadfast will once again support the Mansfield Awards, the industry’s premier claims awards scheme...