The NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority has handed QBE a $32,600 civil penalty for delaying payments to motor claimants in a breach of compulsory third party scheme rules.

The regulator says the late payouts led some service providers to stop offering care, directly harming claimants and providers.

An investigation uncovered historical compliance issues around treatment and care provision, and found “prolonged” delays occurred from November 2023 to August last year.  

“As the breaches were not isolated incidents and QBE’s remediation efforts have previously failed to achieve a timely solution, SIRA decided the appropriate enforcement action in this instance was a civil penalty, which has now been paid,” the authority said.

QBE says it self-reported and “remediated a non-compliance issue” under the NSW CTP scheme.

“We acknowledge SIRA’s concerns and have worked closely with them to strengthen our processes to ensure payments remain timely for customers and service providers,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The authority told the insurer about the penalty in a letter last month.

The letter says a sample of QBE’s complaints data from the past year shows 13.4% of treatment and care reimbursements made direct to claimants fell outside the required time frame.

It notes QBE has a “lengthy history of non-compliance with [treatment and care] provisions, including four regulatory notices issued between November 2020 and March 2022; a letter of censure issued in April 2023; and special licence conditions imposed between September 2022 and December 2023, due to ongoing [treatment and care] compliance issues”.

The letter says the breaches were “not isolated incidents, demonstrating systemic and prolonged non-compliance. QBE has shown a continued history of non-compliance in the [treatment and care] space, despite multiple regulatory interventions and remediation plans.

“The failure to pay … invoices to service providers within the required time frame led to provider disengagement, compromising claimants’ access to essential rehabilitation and care services.

“This conduct possesses a genuine and probable potential to inflict serious harm on the wellbeing and recovery prospects of claimants.”