PI issues highlighted as Landmark policies near expiry
16 March 2020
Building surveyors and certifiers who were covered by London-based Landmark last year are now having to find alternative professional indemnity cover as renewals fall due...
Local
Bushfire emissions matched a year of global air travel
16 March 2020
Australia’s catastrophic summer bushfires spewed around 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – roughly the equivalent of a year’s worth of emissions from commercial aircraft worldwide...
Expect more bushfire-friendly weather systems, researchers warn
16 March 2020
New research has found a weather phenomenon that helped cause the recent horror bushfire season is becoming more frequent and more severe...
Suncorp makes case for CTP reform in Queensland
16 March 2020
Suncorp has again called for changes to Queensland’s at-fault compulsory third party scheme, saying the present setup does not ensure that people injured in a motor accident are covered...
NZ insurers reject push for government pandemic guarantee
16 March 2020
The Insurance Council of New Zealand has rejected a suggestion that the government underwrite insurance for business interruption losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak...
New public campaign planned as vehicle theft surges
16 March 2020
The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council is working on a new public campaign after a 9% rise in the number of vehicles stolen last year...
Suncorp CEO turns up heat on bushfire reform, mitigation
09 March 2020
Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston has demanded that “science and reality” guide post-bushfire reform, rather than ideology or "partisanship"…
Climate change 'worsens bushfire risk by 30%'
09 March 2020
Bushfire risk in Australia has increased by at least 30% because of climate change, a group of scientists has concluded in a new study after analysing this season’s fire catastrophe…
Industry scores poorly on social risk management survey
09 March 2020
An overwhelming 83% of insurance executives believe the industry falls “well short” in the area of social capital risk management, a survey by actuarial firm Finity has found…
Premium funder launches broker support campaign
09 March 2020
Brokers have welcomed a support campaign launched by a leading premium funder to highlight the value provided by intermediaries…
Insurers can’t be translators, AFCA says
09 March 2020
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has determined it is not the responsibility of an insurance provider to ensure customers with little fluency in English understand the wording of policies…
Aon calls for innovative D&O answers
09 March 2020
Aon says non-traditional and alternative solutions may need to be increasingly explored as conditions in the directors’ and officers’ insurance market remain challenging in Australia and overseas…
Cladding class actions expand claims against manufacturers
09 March 2020
Property owners involved in two class actions against cladding product makers will now also seek damages for false or misleading representations, litigation funder IMF Bentham says…
NZ’s public insurance scheme under threat from climate risk
09 March 2020
The viability of New Zealand’s public insurer, the Earthquake Commission, is at risk from climate change, new research shows…
Feeling the burn: insurers' earnings take a big hit
02 March 2020
The general insurance industry suffered a 34.9% decline in underwriting profit to $2.3 billion last year, squeezed by claims losses from the bushfires and Townsville flood catastrophes...
Travel policies 'face watershed moment' amid virus
02 March 2020
Travel insurance products could attract criticism that they are little more than “junk insurance” if vague exclusions are used to decline claims from events such as the coronavirus outbreak, barristers at Edmund Barton Chambers say...
Victorian brokerage loses negligence dispute
02 March 2020
A Victorian brokerage has been ordered to pay a client $250,000 for the losses it suffered after the brokerage failed to advise about a copyright infringement risk...
More Uber driver claim appeals denied for non-disclosure
02 March 2020
Two more Uber drivers have had complaints over denied claims knocked back because they failed to disclose to their insurer that they were using their vehicles for commercial ridesharing services...
Westpac, ANZ face class action over 'junk' insurance sales
02 March 2020
Plaintiff law firm Slater and Gordon has filed separate class actions against ANZ and Westpac, accusing the two banks of ripping off vulnerable consumers who were sold “junk” consumer credit insurance products...
Warm autumn tipped as climate drivers reset
02 March 2020
Autumn temperatures are likely to be above average for most of the country following a summer which ranked among the three hottest on record, the Bureau of Meteorology says...