Kaikoura quake claims approaching $2 billion
26 June 2017
The value of Kaikoura earthquake claims received by New Zealand private insurers has reached $NZ1.84 billion, making it the second-costliest seismic catastrophe after the Canterbury quakes…
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Class action set to target ‘worthless’ car warranties
26 June 2017
Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is to file an $80 million class action against a McMillan Shakespeare Group subsidiary offering extended car warranties…
El Nino: no worries
26 June 2017
The Bureau of Meteorology no longer expects an El Nino this year following a reversal of early-autumn warming in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean…
NZ businesses back broker performance
26 June 2017
About 75% of companies in New Zealand are satisfied with their brokers’ services, according to research commissioned by Suncorp New Zealand…
ICNZ focuses on building fitout failures in quakes
26 June 2017
The Insurance Council of New Zealand says a seminar on buildings’ internal fitout failures during earthquakes is part of a bid to tackle the issue after high-rise commercial properties in Wellington were damaged during the Kaikoura event…
Rates rising for June renewals, brokers say
19 June 2017
Underwriters have pushed through moderate rate increases in the June 30 renewals season, according to brokers…
Insurers back national cladding probe after UK disaster
19 June 2017
Australian insurers are backing a national survey of buildings using flammable cladding in the wake of the devastating blaze that killed at least 58 people in London’s Grenfell Tower…
‘Serious questions’ for insurers as brothel dispute rumbles on
19 June 2017
Calliden is challenging an appeal court decision that two brothel owners whose premises suffered an arson attack were not required to disclose their membership of an outlaw motorcycle gang…
Cyclone Debbie flooding disputes head to FOS
19 June 2017
The NSW Small Business Commissioner will pass bundles of disputes to the Financial Ombudsman Service after flooding in the state’s north prompted complaints about insurers…
NZ insurers warn on tax rises as cyclone losses mount
19 June 2017
Insured losses caused by cyclones Debbie and Cook in New Zealand have reached $NZ84 million, putting the country on course for a costly year for flood damage claims…
Auckland housing taskforce floats builders’ warranty cover
19 June 2017
A taskforce report on Auckland’s housing supply shortfall has recommended investigating a builders’ warranty insurance scheme similar to those operating in Australia…
ICA sets out to ‘bust myths’ on disaster coverage
19 June 2017
The Insurance Council of Australia will hold community forums in cyclone and flood-exposed parts of north Queensland next month to improve understanding of premiums and policies amid criticism of the industry…
In this issue of Insurance News (the magazine)
19 June 2017
Why did the NSW Government execute an embarrassing backflip on the transfer of its emergency services funding levy from insurance customers to all property owners on May 30? And perhaps more importantly, what are the chances of the reform ever seeing the light of day?…
ESL backflip worries brokers
13 June 2017
NSW insurance brokers have slammed the State Government’s shock U-turn on emergency services levy reform, saying confusion reigns among clients and staff…
Cyclone Debbie highlights building failure issues
13 June 2017
Cyclone Debbie exposed a range of building failures, including risks from garden shed debris and damage from wind-driven rain entering homes, the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University says…
Cyber terrorism ‘must be addressed now’
13 June 2017
Australia and other nations need to start countering the emerging threat of cyber terrorism, according to a global broker’s US-based expert…
Post-Tracy building codes ‘reduce cyclone deaths’
13 June 2017
Stricter building codes introduced after Cyclone Tracy in 1974 play a partially effective role in saving lives when major storms strike, according to a study funded by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre…
Mitigation shortfall leaves nation vulnerable: Suncorp
13 June 2017
Australia is playing catch-up on disaster mitigation, with the recent federal budget representing the latest lost opportunity to raise spending, Suncorp CFO Steve Johnston says…
El Nino development ‘stalls’
13 June 2017
The development of an El Nino weather system has paused but there remains a 50% chance that threshold levels could be reached this year, according to the Bureau of Meteorology…
Cyber risk tops Australian insurance ‘banana skins’
05 June 2017
Australian insurers fear cyber risk more than their global counterparts do, indicating there is still much to be done in terms of mitigation, according to the head of insurance at PricewaterhouseCoopers…