The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will allow insurers to lodge financial condition reports up to four months after balance dates, instead of the three-month deadline it imposed from April 1.

The rule will apply to companies with balance dates to March 31 next year, while APRA reviews the reporting requirements.

The regulator had cut the filing time by a month under the life and general insurance capital review, to harmonise rules for general and life insurers.

But insurers’ appointed actuaries lobbied against the change, arguing they need more time to get the information and to let boards and senior management give financial condition reports “meaningful time and consideration”.

APRA says it wants boards to receive information on companies’ financial conditions within a relatively short time from the end of the financial year, but they may get this from other reports.