Insurers want the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to respond in a timely manner to their concerns, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

In a submission on APRA’s regulatory cost savings update, ICA says it supports many of the initiatives to cut red tape.

ICA has previously asked the regulator to consider improving dialogue with insurers but says APRA did not respond to a recommendation to speed responses to their queries.

“Insurance council members consider that APRA’s responses to certain requests are routinely taking too long and contribute to an additional compliance burden for members,” the submission says.

Insurers can find it hard to identify who to talk to at the regulator or how to challenge or query decisions.

ICA wants a more flexible approach to reinsurance letters of credit, saying this incurs $8 million in compliance costs.

APRA could also align some requirements with common accounting treatments.

ICA says the D2A data collection process imposes unnecessary costs and should be replaced.

The system is essential to effective supervision and should be funded from the Commonwealth budget rather than an industry levy.

ICA supports a plan to review appointed actuary requirements to reduce duplication and data collection.