The deadline for implementing the bulk of the new General Insurance Code of Practice has been put back six months to July next year, as insurers turn their focus to dealing with COVID-19.

But the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says vulnerable customer and financial hardship provisions contained within the code will be “fast-tracked”.

ICA says insurers will target these provisions by July 1 or earlier, bringing them forward by at least six months. The requirement to introduce and implement a family violence support policy was already set for July 1, and this remains.

“Temporary or short-term measures” will achieve the consumer outcomes intended, while the deadline for full technical compliance for these parts of the code remains January 1. The deadline for the rest of the code is July 2021.

ICA says insurance companies’ resources are stretched “due to the impact of COVID-19 and natural disaster recovery”, but that the extended implementation period “does not prevent insurers from adopting the code sooner”.