The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has criticised the increase in supervisory levies applied to the sector by the prudential regulator, with the rise outstripping that levelled on the banks.

Levies on the general insurance sector will rise more than 40% to $30 million in the next financial year, while the major banks will contribute 24.4% more over the same period.

Charges across all industries will rise by 31.4%.

ICA has called for a transparent framework so the sector can see if it gets value for money from the levies.

“There remains a lack of detail, beyond internal estimates of resource utilisation for each industry sector, on the way resources will be allocated and used to support the regulation and supervision of the general insurance sector,” it says.

It questions whether feedback from insurers during consultation can realistically be incorporated into the Cost Recovery Implementation Statement, which has a planned release date of June 30.

ICA has reiterated its call for a stakeholder panel to be established that would include all levying government agencies and would discuss issues relating to the charges.