Life insurance policyholders can compare insurers’ performance in handling claims and disputes thanks to the release of industry and insurer-level data and a new online tool.

The data was gathered over two years by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to establish a public reporting regime for claims and dispute statistics.

Pilot data was collected over a six-month period to June 2017, with another set collected over the year to last June. Many of the data comparisons are incomplete because the pilot data was collected through a voluntary response paper. The data will continue to be collected under a biannual compulsory reporting standard.

Meanwhile, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has established an online tool for consumers to compare insurers’ claims-acceptance rates, average claim time, the number of claims-related disputes and policy cancellation rates.

The APRA data breaks down consumer outcomes according to cover type and distribution channels; it shows 92% of claims are paid in the first instance.

The claims admittance rate for death and total and permanent disability (TPD) cover for individual adviser-driven insurance is significantly higher than for cover not bought through an adviser.

There is a 97% claims admittance rate for individual advised death cover, compared with 88% for non-advised cover.

For TPD, the admittance rate for advised cover is 85%, compared with 68% for non-advised cover.

APRA says advised policyholders could have clearer expectations about what is covered, or advisers could be discouraging clients from lodging claims that are not covered.

“This project represents a joint commitment to enhancing industry transparency and holding life insurers to account for how they treat policyholders,” APRA Executive Board Member Geoff Summerhayes said.

The new arrangements were triggered by an ASIC review of claims handling that highlighted inadequate data availability.