Reinsurance: NZ breathes again
24 October 2011
Money has triumphed over fear in the New Zealand reinsurance market. Higher reinsurance rates are attracting reinsurers who have not normally operated in the market, offsetting fears…
Analysis
FOFA: In whose best interest?
17 October 2011
How financial advisers are paid has been the headline act of the Future of Financial Advice legislation, but another issue has much wider implications…
Public versus private – this year’s cats revive the debate
10 October 2011
When insurers fail to meet public expectations there are inevitably calls for state intervention, and this year’s catastrophes have revived calls for governments to step into the insurance market…
Brokers escape the latest round of FOFA
03 October 2011
The latest components of the Future of Financial Advice draft bill contain no significant surprises…
How serious is the industry about protecting its brand?
26 September 2011
The Insurance Council of Australia’s announcement that it is working on a rebuild of “brand insurance” is very welcome…
Insurers to benefit from a stronger economy
19 September 2011
The industry will benefit from improved economic conditions in coming months, says KPMG in its annual General Insurance Industry Survey…
Reinsurance outlook remains positive despite disasters
12 September 2011
Reinsurers have taken a battering this year but the outlook for the sector is positive, according to reports by ratings agencies…
Here we go again… FOFA puts brokers in the firing line
05 September 2011
Ever since the Wallis Report of the 1990s which led to the Financial Services Reform Act 2001, general insurance brokers have blamed their financial planning counterparts for bringing down on their…
No end in sight to Canterbury insurance embargo
29 August 2011
As the anniversary of the first Christchurch earthquake approaches, the ground is still shaking and there is no end in sight to the embargo on writing new business in the Canterbury area…
US hurricane season could still put the wind up rates
22 August 2011
Insurance and reinsurance CEOs tend not to speculate about the future direction of rates without mentioning the US hurricane season…
US debt downgrade will not affect general insurers
15 August 2011
US insurance regulators and company executives have rushed into damage control mode following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of US Federal Government debt, reassuring consumers and markets…
Industry fraud line saves insurers $700,000 in six months
08 August 2011
The industry’s ongoing battle with insurance fraudsters continues, with the Insurance Fraud Hotline saving the industry $700,000 in its first six months…
Brokers baffled over market withdrawals
01 August 2011
Brokers say it’s almost impossible to place business in Far North Queensland’s strata market and despite premium increases of up to 400% they are urging customers to grab any option for cover…
Flood review: No one wants to take responsibility
25 July 2011
The traditional battlelines are again being acted out at the Natural Disaster Insurance Review following the closing of submissions…
A state-funded flood rebate scheme won’t fly, so what’s Plan B?
18 July 2011
In its submission to the Natural Disaster Insurance Review, the Insurance Council of Australia presents a strong, politically compelling case that mandatory flood cover is not the way forward…
The blame game begins
11 July 2011
Insurers are bracing for fallout from the Queensland floods on at least two fronts – resisting the compulsory flood cover option of the Federal Government’s Natural Disaster Insurance Review and…
Competition still keeping rates down
04 July 2011
Brokers expected it. Clients expected it…
Opposition grows to a compensation scheme
27 June 2011
Almost every day in the financial services industry something goes wrong and a consumer is left out of pocket…
A brave new technological world for insurers
20 June 2011
Young people don’t talk to each other any more; they text, facebook and twitter. The words themselves have become active verbs rather than the passive nouns they once were…
Is another industry reform struggle looming?
14 June 2011
The launch last week of a new report by the Brotherhood of St Laurence on insurance for low-income earners doesn’t reveal any dramatic new facts…