Consumer law service wins reprieve
30 June 2014
The Insurance Law Service has won a stay of execution after securing funding from the federal Attorney-General’s office…
Local
Insurance businesses slow to build web presence
30 June 2014
About 98% of businesses in the financial and insurance services sector have internet access, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2011/12…
Small businesses ‘exposed to staff fraud’
30 June 2014
Small businesses like pharmacies don’t always appreciate the dangers of staff fraud, according to Guild Insurance…
CEDA calls for climate threat register
23 June 2014
Australia should set up a national risk register that includes plans for managing climate-related disasters, the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia…
SMEs note rising insurance costs
23 June 2014
More than half of SMEs say insurance and workers’ compensation costs have increased noticeably in the past year, a new survey shows…
Catlin reef survey reveals cyclone damage
23 June 2014
Researchers backed by international insurer Catlin have examined damage to the Great Barrier Reef following Tropical Cyclone Ita in April…
Study reveals scale of tsunami threat
23 June 2014
Australia has experienced almost three times as many tsunamis as previously thought, according to a University of New South Wales study…
Defence Force admits Lithgow fire blunders
23 June 2014
Defence personnel faced “unacceptable risk” as shrapnel exploded near them during a botched training exercise that caused the State Mine fire last year, according to an inquiry report…
EQC makes most of soft reinsurance market
23 June 2014
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission has bought reinsurance cover worth $NZ4.5 billion ($4.17 billion), increasing its protection due to lower global reinsurance prices…
Insurers, reinsurers record $5.1 billion profit
16 June 2014
General insurers’ and reinsurers’ annual profits totalled $5.16 billion last year, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority company-level figures show…
Brokers fight back on strata cover
16 June 2014
Brokers are developing strategies to combat body corporate managers who take insurance business from them…
Greenhouse gas emissions ‘to fuel more bushfires’
16 June 2014
Climate change could cause the weather event behind many of Australia’s worst bushfires to almost triple in frequency, according to a report from the CSIRO…
SP AusNet bushfire class action winds up
16 June 2014
The Black Saturday bushfire class action against electricity company SP AusNet is expected to conclude in Melbourne on Wednesday after 16 months…
NSW power company offers no view on fire cause
16 June 2014
The cause of a bushfire that destroyed 193 houses in the Blue Mountains has yet to be determined, according to lawyers for a power company facing a $200 million class action…
Trucking fines show threat from ‘heavy-handed’ regulation
16 June 2014
Record fines imposed on an SA truck company and two staff show the haulage industry faces “heavy-handed” regulation, according to Specialist Underwriting Agencies Director John Iles…
Hazelwood action on hold as fire inquiry proceeds
16 June 2014
Interest in a class action against the owner of the Hazelwood open-cut mine “has really gone quiet” since an inquiry into the recent fire there began, according to local broker Alan Wilson…
In Insurance News (the magazine) this month
16 June 2014
The local broking scene is in for a shake-up following Arthur J Gallagher’s acquisition of No.5 broker OAMPS. The June/July edition of Insurance News (the magazine) contains fresh…
Insurance woes ‘hit north Australian economy’
10 June 2014
Spiralling insurance costs have sent businesses bust, while householders have seen premiums rise 1000%, the Federal Parliament’s committee on the development of northern Australia has heard…
Homeowners warned on climate change
10 June 2014
Extreme weather risks and climate change could almost double home insurance premiums and cut at least 20% off property values in some exposed areas over a 30-year mortgage…
Australian insurers ‘wary of new reinsurance capital’
10 June 2014
Alternative capital has transformed the reinsurance market, but Australian insurers remain loyal to traditional reinsurance because they know it will pay claims, IAG CFO Nick Hawkins says…