The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has commended the general insurance industry for its efforts in submitting data to the new National Claims and Policies Database.

APRA Executive Member Steve Somogyi says more than 90% of contributing insurers submitted their data by the February 28 deadline.

“This is a good result, particularly for a first-time lodgement under new reporting standards,” he said. “The data covers well over 90% of the public liability and professional indemnity insurance business in Australia.”

APRA says the information collected for the database will enable the regulator, the industry and other stakeholders to identify trends and establish industry benchmarks for public liability and professional indemnity insurance. APRA says it will also enhance market transparency and facilitate informed commercial decisions and policy formulation for these classes of risk.

The current batch of data covering the period from January 1 2003 to December 31 2004 will be ready for release by May.