HIH policyholders only have six more months to lodge their claims with the HIH Claims Support scheme before it closes down. It will close to new claims in February and complete all business by August next year, according to Assistant Treasurer Helen Coonan.

In operation for more than two years, the scheme has paid out nearly $245 million to policyholders or those acting on their behalf following the demise of HIH. When the scheme was created, four insurers – Allianz, IAG, QBE and Royal & SunAlliance (now Promina) – put up their hands to manage HIH claims on a non-profit basis.

Senator Coonan says most HIH policyholders have had sufficient time to lodge claims. “The number of applications has been steadily declining over recent times,” she said, adding the scheme “is no longer warranted or cost-effective”.

She said a facility will be developed for policyholders to make late claims, where “through no fault of their own, they did not know and could not reasonably have known” the cut-off date had passed.

Thanking industry groups as well as participating claims managers, she said a national advertising campaign will tell policyholders time is running out for claims.