The NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) has put quarterly audits of icare on hold until the second half of this year as a new leadership team settles into top positions at the insurer and moves ahead with reforms.

The audits are part of a 21-point action plan released by SIRA in December 2019 in response to an independent compliance and performance review of the Nominal Insurer.

“The first and second quarterly reviews conducted in February and August 2020 found some improvements in the claims performance of the Nominal Insurer, however further improvement is required,” the regulator says in a progress report on the 21-point plan released last week.

“SIRA has deferred the quarterly reviews for the time being to allow icare’s new leadership team time to implement improvements.”

icare CEO Richard Harding started at the insurer in January and last month announced an overhaul of the leadership team, including creation of a new governance role.

Eight measures remain to be completed from a 21-point action plan, with the COVID-19 pandemic also contributing to some delays. The plan includes commitments from SIRA as well as icare requirements.

The progress report says icare has taken steps to improve the quality of data submissions to SIRA, and expects to meet requirements from June or July, while the regulator will undertake a medical payment process audit late this year to determine improvement levels.

A recommendation for icare to provide small businesses with claims management service provider choice, after making changes for larger firms, is still a work in progress.

“Following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, icare advised SIRA that it will consider this recommendation later in 2021 as part of its service model provider review,” the report says.