The NSW workers’ compensation scheme operator started directly providing quotes and selling cover to new businesses last week, as part of a wider overhaul to the system.

Insurance & Care NSW (icare) says its self-service portal allows businesses to set up their own cover online, while those seeking further advice have access to phone-based customer support.

The reforms include icare taking over the insurers’ role in handling policy and billing requirements.

As insuranceNEWS.com.au reported in a Breaking News bulletin last week, CGU has responded to the changes by announcing it will exit the NSW scheme when its current contract expires at the end of this year, bringing to an end 30 years of involvement.

icare provides cover for about 272,000 NSW businesses and 3.1 million workers. Group Executive Workers’ Insurance John Nagle says further changes to the scheme will be rolled out later this year, including the ability to manage a policy online via access to claims and policy data.

Mr Nagle was CEO of Lumley Insurance from 2009 until September 2014, when the company was acquired by IAG.

He says all new businesses “will now get a quote and buy a new policy directly from icare rather than a scheme agent, which is the first step in our goal to create a simple multi-channel way of setting up a workers’ insurance policy”.

“icare continues to invest in new technology platforms and the new self-service platform is based on Guidewire and Salesforce systems.”

Brokers and other business will be able to buy and renew workers’ compensation policies direct from icare from the middle of this year, under changes unveiled last year.

Billing and invoicing has been managed under the current policy and claims management system by five agents: Allianz, CGU, EML, GIO and QBE.

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