The corporate regulator anticipates more significant enforcement outcomes this year and says successful court results highlight “the critical need” for the insurance industry to be transparent and accurate when selling and promoting products. 

An enforcement and regulatory update for the June half, released yesterday, notes fines totalling $16.8 million arising from action against Allianz Australia and AWP over misleading travel cover statements.

In other activity, the Federal Court ordered HCF Life to pay a penalty over a misleading contract term, the regulator issued infringement notices to Zurich related to trauma insurance, and it has sued Hollard over alleged claims handling failures.

“We have a strong track record of taking action against insurers that fail in their obligations to their customers,” the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said.

The regulator has also started proceedings against Choosi over funeral and life insurance comparison services, alleging it compared policies issued by a single insurer and distributed by an associated company, with one limited exception.

Across all its regulated sectors ASIC secured six criminal convictions and $57.5 million in civil penalties in the first half. It started 132 investigations, filed 23 civil proceedings and began 10 criminal litigations.

The penalties included $8 million against investment product provider Firstmac, marking the first time a distributor has been penalised for failing to meet design and distribution obligations.

Chair Joseph Longo says ASIC will “remain on the front foot”, with increased scrutiny across areas outlined in its enforcement priorities for this year.

“As we increase our investigations and surveillance, I look forward to more significant compliance, enforcement and consumer outcomes over the coming months,” he said.

The enforcement priorities include “failures by insurers to deal fairly and in good faith with customers”, licensees having inadequate cybersecurity and greenwashing.