Budget: National affordability initiative scrapped
19 May 2014
The National Insurance Affordability Initiative will be scrapped under changes outlined in the Federal Budget last week…
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Budget: $450 million more taken from terrorism pool
19 May 2014
The Federal Government will take $450 million from the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) over the next four years while allocating Treasury $1.2 million to develop options…
Budget: Cuts claim emergency management campus
19 May 2014
The Australian Emergency Management Institute is to become a “virtual institute”, saving the Federal Government about $900,000…
Budget: Industry hails APRA role change
19 May 2014
The insurance industry has welcomed moves to expand the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s remit…
Budget: Scoping study for Defence Service Homes Insurance
19 May 2014
The Federal Government will commission an insurance industry expert to undertake a scoping study on the future of the Defence Services Homes Insurance Scheme…
Budget: New funding for bushfire mitigation
19 May 2014
The Federal Government has set up a new national bushfire mitigation program, with the budget allocating $5 million a year for three years to the project…
Vero raises doubts on financial lines newcomers
19 May 2014
Customers should be wary of an influx of new entrants to the Australian financial lines market, according to Vero…
EQC asks court to rule on flood damage scheme
19 May 2014
The New Zealand Earthquake Commission has asked the country’s High Court to rule on its untested Increased Flooding Vulnerability scheme…
Disputes to FOS rise 6%
19 May 2014
General insurance disputes made up 26.1% of the total disputes handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the March quarter…
Telematics is on the way
19 May 2014
Australia has seen slow take-up of telematics but that will change as more vehicles roll off the production line with the tracking systems built in, Zurich Head of Customer and Proposition Development…
S&P warns against price reductions
12 May 2014
Australia’s general insurance sector has retained its coveted “low-risk” status in Standard & Poor’s latest insurance industry and country risk assessment…
Changing workforce ‘challenging insurers’
12 May 2014
The insurance industry must adapt to shifting employee preferences and expectations to secure the best talent, according to a report by Suncorp…
Risk management takes a back seat as business battens down
12 May 2014
Aon Risk Solutions Australia CEO Lambros Lambrou says concern about the economy has heightened the risk of companies cutting back on their insurance cover…
Good and bad news as El Nino looms
12 May 2014
An El Nino event could develop as early as July, potentially increasing bushfire risks in summer but reducing the chance of tropical cyclones in Queensland, according to the…
QBE, Budget Direct take Canstar car awards
12 May 2014
Budget Direct has the best value car insurance policy in four states, while QBE leads the way on claims service, according to the latest Canstar customer satisfaction ratings for car cover…
Court to hear case against S&P over Lehman Bros debt
12 May 2014
Legal action by a group of 91 councils and charities against Standard and Poor’s will proceed after the Federal Court last week rejected S&P’s objections…
Lenders’ mortgage insurers hold steady course
12 May 2014
Moody’s has maintained mid-A ratings on four lenders’ mortgage insurance providers, noting their financial strength and conservative underwriting practices…
Value of advice ‘eroded by new intermediaries’
05 May 2014
New forms of insurance intermediation and new technologies are changing the landscape for brokers and eroding the value of advice, according to AIMS GM Martin McAvenna…
Disaster funding inquiry’s scope ‘spot on’
05 May 2014
The Insurance Council of Australia has welcomed the release of terms of reference for the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into natural disaster funding…
Little bird gives CSIRO a heads-up on disasters
05 May 2014
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has stepped up its monitoring of Twitter for early reports of earthquakes, fires, cyclones and floods…