The prudential regulator won’t classify information on the National Claims and Policies Database (NCPD) as confidential following consultation with the general insurance industry.

The release of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) determination on Friday follows two rounds of industry consultation.

The database contains information on public and product liability and professional indemnity insurance. It covers details of every policy underwritten and every open claim since 2003 from APRA-regulated insurers. State and territory insurers also contribute claims data on a voluntary basis.

Industry discussions centred on insurers’ views on confidentiality and information on the nature and level of public interest in releasing liability insurance data.

“APRA has determined that data contained within the NCPD reports are non-confidential,” the regulator said. “This determination will enable APRA to publish the NCPD reports containing aggregate industry-wide policy and claims information with no confidentiality masking in place.”

APRA Executive Member John Trowbridge says unmasked data will allow the regulator to undertake “more informed analysis”.

“The confidentiality requirements had a significant impact on the amount of data available for publication,” he said.

However, APRA is also considering ways to meet the privacy requirements relating to individual claim details. Some form of masking is likely to be required to protect the privacy of individual claimant information. APRA will release a specific proposal on this in the near future.

Level two claims reports will continue to be masked for confidentiality “until a process is developed to address any privacy issues relating to individual claims”.