NZ home buyer repair scheme extended
29 June 2020
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission has extended the deadline for owners of on-sold properties in Canterbury needing repairs to apply for government funding...
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Businesses put on cyber attack alert
22 June 2020
Insurance experts and Australia’s defence department are urging businesses to check their cyber security measures are up to date after Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned last week that organisations are being targeted by a "sophisticated state-based cyber actor"...
D&O premium hikes worry ASX
22 June 2020
Stock exchange operator ASX has discussed the rising cost of directors’ and officers’ cover with London insurers amid worries the issue may undermine the attractiveness of the local securities market...
IAG says quota share programs will ease reinsurance pressure
22 June 2020
IAG expects there will be "some pressure around reinsurance costs" but believes its multi-year quota share programs will provide some relief...
Top CEOs 'underprepared' for climate-related financial risks
22 June 2020
A global survey of several hundred CEOs and CFOs at companies with $US1 billion or more in revenue has found more than half in the Asia-Pacific region believe their companies are underprepared for climate-related financial risks...
Kiwi SMEs consider BI cover
22 June 2020
About 20% of SMEs in New Zealand are considering increasing their business interruption cover, compared with 10% who are thinking about a decrease in cover...
EQC $6 billion reinsurance pricing meets expectations
22 June 2020
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission has renewed its $NZ6.2 billion reinsurance program for a total premium of $NZ185.7 million...
Insurers give cautious welcome to BI test case probe
15 June 2020
The Insurance Council of Australia says the business interruption test case being considered by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority may provide clarity on claims relating to the coronavirus shutdown...
ACCC seeks input after relief clearance extended
15 June 2020
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has called for submissions by Tuesday next week on a draft authorisation allowing insurers to continue co-ordinating on COVID-19 SME assistance measures until the end of the year...
8500 sport cancellations threaten $1.1 billion annual spend
15 June 2020
Sport event organisers are warning COVID-19 is leaving a $1.1 billion hole in Australia’s economy after the cancellation of 8500 mass participation events...
Farmers criticise liability withdrawal on coal seam gas
15 June 2020
Queensland rural group AgForce is concerned farmers with coal seam gas infrastructure on their properties will struggle to obtain liability insurance after WFI said it will no longer provide the cover in those circumstances...
Adani insurers rule out future involvement
15 June 2020
The insurers named in a newspaper last week as being involved with the Adani coal mine have ruled out providing insurance for the next phases of the controversial project in Queensland...
Bushfire risk falls for next few years
15 June 2020
The recent devastating bushfire season represents a turning point for land management, with a concerted effort needed to manage the bushfire risk with careful prescribed fires and other future planning, a senior academic says...
Vehicle crime 'set to return to GFC levels'
15 June 2020
The number of vehicles stolen this year will likely exceed 60,000 for the first time since the Global Financial Crisis more than a decade ago, the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council says...
Court decision clears way for cladding class action to continue
15 June 2020
A class action seeking product liability damages from a cladding maker has scored a "major win" in the Federal Court of Australia, paving the way for the lawsuit to continue, litigation funder Omni Bridgeway says..
Insurers, scientists to devise common climate change standard
15 June 2020
Australia’s largest insurers are joining forces with leading scientists to develop a common standard to be used in climate change risk projections and disclosure, making comparisons easier...
Code Governance Committee urges insurers to lift their game
01 June 2020
The General Insurance Code Governance Committee has called on insurers to lift standards and overhaul processes after finding some subscribers have been "adopting a lax attitude" toward identifying breaches...
Pandemic, bushfires push industry into $997 million quarterly loss
01 June 2020
The general insurance industry sank into an after-tax net loss of $997 million in the March quarter, as last summer’s horror bushfires and fallout from the virus pandemic combined to devastate earnings, latest figures from the prudential regulator show...
Virus creates ‘new suite’ of pressures: S&P
01 June 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new suite of earnings pressures following significant summer natural catastrophe losses, but Australian and New Zealand-based insurers have been resilient, S&P Global Ratings says in a report...
SME insurance market holding up amid pandemic crisis
01 June 2020
SMEs have fared better-than-expected with the business fallout from the pandemic, according to BizCover and Vero...