A new independent committee can audit and publicly name non-compliant insurers under the revised General Insurance Code of Practice, launched last week.

Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) CEO Rob Whelan says the code enhances consumer rights.

The independent governance committee will have greater powers to discipline insurers for breaches, enforcing action on corrective advertising and other remedial measures in set timeframes.

Similar powers held by the old ICA-controlled committee were used only once, against a small insurer that no longer exists.

The code took effect on July 1 but signatories have 12 months to comply.

About 78% of code breaches finalised by the Financial Ombudsman Service in 2012/13 involved claims-handling, according to ICA.

“Claims-handling is everything in insurance,” Mr Whelan told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The new code includes “hard measures” in this area, such as set timeframes to respond to consumers.

See ANALYSIS