Adviser pleads guilty to false insurance applications
02 July 2012
A Sydney financial adviser has pleaded guilty to falsifying more than 60 insurance applications so she could collect commissions…
Regulatory & Government
Reserve Bank of NZ gets new governor
02 July 2012
Former World Bank MD Operations Graeme Wheeler will become Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor in September…
Queensland WorkCover gets a new board
02 July 2012
Queensland’s new Liberal-National Party government has placed its stamp on the state’s WorkCover authority and its controlling body Q-COMP with the appointment of new boards to both organisations…
Quake commission to use independent mediation
02 July 2012
New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission will establish an independent mediation service for disputes that can be settled by negotiation…
NSW to cut WorkCover benefits
25 June 2012
The NSW Government will open up the workers’ compensation market to new insurers and reduce benefits earlier under legislation passed through the State Parliament last week…
APRA calls for views on insurance reporting changes
25 June 2012
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released a new discussion paper proposing revisions to reporting requirements for general and life insurers…
Accountants’ advice licence replaces exemption
25 June 2012
A new form of financial advice licence will replace the licensing exemption at present enjoyed by accountants, who will also be allowed to offer a much broader range of financial advice to clients…
Victoria changes flood rules in new suburbs
25 June 2012
More areas on the fringes of Melbourne have been opened up for housing developments, even though two of them had floodway overlays…
ASIC pulls up medical insurer over misleading advertising
25 June 2012
Medical indemnity insurer Avant Insurance has been forced to change the advertising for its practitioner indemnity insurance policy, after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission…
ASIC reviews car tyre insurance financing after breach
25 June 2012
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is undertaking an industry-wide review of the financing of tyre and rim insurance premiums after a car financier breached the law…
NT workers’ compensation changes come into effect
25 June 2012
Changes to the Northern Territory’s workers’ compensation law will take effect on July 1…
More compliance for life insurance distributor
25 June 2012
A specialist life insurance company distributing loan protection policies through finance consultants as been ordered to tighten up its compliance procedures…
Cut benefits to cut costs, says NSW WorkCover review
18 June 2012
The inquiry into NSW WorkCover has recommended journeys to and from work should no longer be covered, work capacity testing should be tightened and benefits reduced earlier…
Seniors’ workforce participation could affect insurers
18 June 2012
The Insurance Council of Australia has warned the Australian Law Reform Commission that new regulations designed to encourage workforce participation by senior citizens could affect…
CTP ‘promotion’ money is really the MAA’s operating budget
18 June 2012
A NSW Budget allocation of $169 million listed as “promoting competitiveness and affordability” in the compulsory third party insurance market is actually to pay for running the…
NSW Budget funds disaster mitigation
18 June 2012
The NSW Government has allocated funding for flood and fire mitigation in a budget where some costs have blown out due to natural disaster recovery measures…
Queensland announces new WorkCover rates and a review
18 June 2012
The Queensland Government has increased the average WorkCover premium by 2% to 1.45% and announced it will also review the scheme…
Toyota and insurers refund overcharged premiums
18 June 2012
Toyota Finance and three insurers have refunded $635,860 to customers who were overcharged on their consumer credit insurance…
Reserve Bank of NZ publishes insurer exemptions
18 June 2012
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has published exemptions under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act, which comes into effect on June 30…
Regulator wants statutory fund for NZ life insurers
18 June 2012
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has issued the final draft of the statutory fund regulations for life insurers…