The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has rescinded its interim stop orders banning the sales of 67 pet insurance products issued by Hollard and its underwriting management agency PetSure. 

ASIC lifted the ban hours after announcing on Thursday morning it had issued 38 stop orders on the products that are distributed via brands including Woolworths, RSPCA, Petbarn, Guide Dogs, Medibank, Bupa and HCF. 

The regulator ordered the ban in response to “deficiencies” in the products’ target market determination (TMD) documents. 

“The interim stop orders were revoked on late Thursday afternoon, following the insurers providing ASIC with revised target market determinations that addressed ASIC’s concerns,” a spokesperson for the regulator told insuranceNEWS.com.au. 

Since October 2021 insurers have been required to provide TMDs for financial products in compliance with design and distribution obligation (DDO) laws.  

The DDO regime requires product issuer and distributors to determine the needs of consumers, design products that are suitable for such consumers and distribute products in a more targeted manner. 

ASIC says it was concerned that Hollard and PetSure had “failed to appropriately define the target market for these products using objective and tangible parameters”. 

In particular, they “may not have properly considered the financial situation of consumers in the target market, such as their ability to afford premiums and to pay for treatments upfront before being reimbursed by the insurer” after a claim is approved. 

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands the insurers have revised the TMDs so that the documents now include a requirement that customers must be able to pay premiums, upfront vet costs and gap costs. 

A spokesperson for Hollard says the insurer has “addressed the concerns raised with the target market determination and subsequently the interim stop order has been lifted”.