General insurance companies are too slow and patchy in making improvements to their family violence approaches, the Financial Rights Legal Centre says.

An audit the centre conducted found some advances, with RACQ Insurance and Nib in particular making significant changes, but overall it “remains a lottery” for people requiring support from their insurers. 

“We remain disappointed that the general insurance sector more broadly has failed to take more action and lift its game when supporting people experiencing family violence and financial abuse,” centre CEO Karen Cox said. “Our findings are far from a ringing endorsement of voluntary, aspirational guidelines  ... and should be a wake-up call to a sector that is falling behind community expectations at a time when urgent action is needed.” 

The General Insurance Code of Practice requires insurers to have family violence policies available online for customers.  

The Insurance Council of Australia says there is “more to be done”. It says 50 of 55 insurance code subscribers have family violence policies in place – 98% of the market by gross written premium. 

“ICA acknowledges the important role insurers play in in combating domestic and family violence,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “ICA remains committed to working collaboratively with members and stakeholders to ensure our industry continues to address consumer vulnerability, particularly in the context of family violence.” 

The legal centre examined the 55 insurance companies’ family violence policies to see if they had been improved in recent years. More than half scored 5.5 or lower out of 11 on the centre’s scoring system, and 29 had taken no action to improve their policies since 2021. One insurer that updated its policy “moved backwards”. 

Eleven insurers’ policies were updated and improved: Allianz, Hallmark, Insurance Australia, Insurance Manufacturers, Nib, QBE, QBE Lenders Mortgage, RAC Insurance, RACQ Insurance, Southern Cross, and Youi.

AssetInsure notched a perfect score of 11, followed by Nib and Youi on 10.5, RACQ Insurance and Tokio Marine on 10, Allianz on 9.5, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company Australia, Great Lakes and Munich Re with nine, and AAI, AIG, Chubb and RAC Insurance on 8.5. 

The report says 10 more insurers have added ”quick exit” buttons on their websites to enable a safer browsing experience, and Suncorp, Allianz and IAG have included ”conduct of others” clauses in their product disclosure statements.

ICA expects more insurers to introduce such clauses, which allow insurers to pay a claim that would otherwise be denied due to malicious damage caused by a perpetrator. 

“These changes are positive and have the potential to make a real difference to lives of victim-survivors,” Ms Cox said.  

However, of eight new general insurance businesses, three had “no detectable” family violence policies. 

“This is no longer acceptable in 2024,” Ms Cox said. “We urge insurers to commit to including the key elements of the Family Violence Guide in their code of conduct, to ensure all policies meet minimum standards. 

“If we are to wait for general insurers to all voluntarily achieve best practice, we may have to wait a very long time and vulnerable consumers will pay the price.” 

See the report here.