Global insurers weathering the financial turmoil
20 October 2008
With world financial markets apparently racing downhill at a record pace, the latest outlook for international insurers from Standard & Poor's provides a timely reality check…
Analysis
Insurers among the winners in the Aussie’s slide
13 October 2008
It's not just the share market that is in freefall - currency traders are also shaking their heads at the sudden and extreme drop in the Australian dollar...
Credit Suisse: rising rates the key for insurers
06 October 2008
As Australian insurers, investors and policyholders grapple with what AIG’s near downfall means to them, the question of whether it could benefit the local market has now…
RBA: Aussie insurers in relatively rude health
29 September 2008
Bloodied but unbowed: that’s the short version of the Reserve Bank’s review of the local general insurance industry...
AIG: market working in a vacuum
22 September 2008
AIG’s Australian CEO Chris Townsend is manning the phones talking to key stakeholders about the company’s excellent liquidity locally...
Oops! Another regulatory overshoot corrected
15 September 2008
The unkind among us would suggest there’s plenty of evidence that governments and public servants tend to overshoot when it comes to controlling and monitoring the behaviour…
Flood definition fiasco: communication needed
08 September 2008
Consumer law groups say the Insurance Council of Australia’s failed bid to introduce a common flood definition shows it needs to “enter the 21st century” by properly engaging…
QBE court win over Beaconsfield mine a win for insurers
01 September 2008
An insurance claim over the closure of Tasmania’s Beaconsfield gold mine that has dragged through the courts for more than a year has so far shown courts’ willingness to defend…
International training standards: not as easy as it sounds
25 August 2008
ANZIIF CEO Joan Fitzpatrick spoke last week of the need for uniform global insurance standards administered by a single international institute...
10 years on, flood cover remains elusive
18 August 2008
It’s 10 years since the Wollongong floods exposed the insurance industry’s mixed attitude to dealing with flood cover and the conflicts that inevitably follow...
The case behind CGU’s High Court win
11 August 2008
The legal industry has been following the progress of a professional indemnity claim that CGU has fought through several courts over the past few years until – as reported last week…
Flood definition raises even more questions
04 August 2008
Last week’s AILA seminar in Melbourne titled The Flood Dilemma – Where are we going? could lead cynics to suggest the only direction at present is in circles...
Industry faces an economic storm
28 July 2008
A new report by actuaries Finity Consulting and Deutsche Bank is the latest sign that the pressure is increasing for premiums to rise at a faster rate...
NIBA survey confirms market firming
21 July 2008
NIBA’s six-monthly policy renewal survey confirms what the industry has been saying unofficially – the insurance cycle is turning...
Insurers pin their hopes on a flood definition
14 July 2008
The industry’s latest attempt to bring some clarity to the difficult issue of universal flood insurance has gained plenty of attention, much of it for the wrong reason...
The only way is up after horror year for insurers
07 July 2008
Australia’s listed insurers will be glad to see the back of the 2007/08 financial year...
Biggest tax review in 50 years must cover insurance
30 June 2008
The Federal Government has kicked off an 18-month review into the Australian tax system, pledging to shine the light into every corner...
US flood program fails to hold back the tide
23 June 2008
This week’s revelation that fewer than one in five Americans have flood insurance is a devastating indictment of the National Flood Insurance Program...
Competition is keeping rate rises tentative
16 June 2008
Any brokers listening to the public pronouncements from the big insurers could be forgiven for thinking the market is in for a sharp correction over the June renewals season...
Australia steps into line with Financial Claims Scheme
10 June 2008
We’ve been slow out of the blocks, but the introduction of a Financial Claims Scheme announced last week finally brings Australia into line with international standards…