Ms Orr highlights that there have been no sanctions imposed by the Code Governance Committee (CGC) since those powers were introduced in July 2014 despite a rising number of breaches reported.

Mr Whelan says sanctions have not been applied because problems have been subsequently fixed without the penalties being required.

“The sanction powers are predicated on the fact that those breaches have not been remedied," he says.

The rising number of breaches also reflects the fact that the code is being taken more seriously and there has been an increase in the compliance mentality within companies.

Ms Orr argues that there could be a role to have sanctions, that act as a denunciation, in addition to having them available if problems are not resolved.

“It may be a discussion that the CGC could bring to us,”  Mr Whelan says.

“There is the argument that the potential of a sanction can act as a deterrent.”

Mr Whelan says many breaches are around failures to meet timeframes through the insurance process.

“They are things that can be corrected through process change and training.”

The commission heard there had been 33 cases where the committee had determined breaches and a further 689 cases where code subscribers had admitted breaches since mid 2014.

Mr Whelan says the ICA doesn't support including the code in contracts, as exists in banking.

Earlier, he told the commission he was open to an end to the claims handling exclusion relating to financial services.

Ms Orr says she has no further questions for Mr Whelan and the next witness will be Financial Services Council CEO Sally Loane.