Life insurers need to improve their approaches to family violence, consumer advocate the Financial Rights Legal Centre says.

The warning comes after the group undertook a desktop audit of family violence policies in which more than half of insurers scored 5.5 points or below out of a possible 11.

NobleOak was the only insurer to achieve a perfect score. Its written policy around family violence was found to have definitive language and specific measures that detail how help will be offered.

The centre says it held the audit after the Life Insurance Code of Practice introduced provisions requiring subscribers to have family violence policies available online for customers by July 1 last year. The point-in-time audit examined 15 code subscribers last August and September. It checked whether they met the 11 requirements of the Life Insurance Family and Domestic Violence Policy guide. Policies were rated as meeting a requirement, partly meeting it or not meeting it.

“[We] saw this as an important opportunity to inquire into which life insurers’ written policies demonstrated best practice, and to benchmark all life insurance code subscribers to encourage ongoing improvements to their family violence policies,” the consumer advocate said.

The centre says the audit is not an assessment of a subscriber’s compliance with, and implementation of, its family violence policy. It is also not an evaluation of a subscriber’s culture of supporting customers experiencing family violence, or a judgment on an insurer’s internal policies that may or may not address the expectations of the Life Insurance Family and Domestic Violence Policy guide.

“We hope this research can highlight to all life insurers where they can improve and learn from each other’s policies to better serve family violence victims,” Financial Rights Legal Centre CEO Karen Cox said. “Strong, clear and effective family violence policies, implemented well, can go a long way to start addressing the issues family violence victims face.

“But it is critical that these policies be backed up by a strong culture of supporting vulnerable consumers and putting the appropriate systems in place to not just talk the talk but to walk the walk.”

NobleOak’s policy sets out why each of the 11 areas listed in the Life Insurance Family and Domestic Violence Policy guide are important, and specific measures in place to address each issue.

Since the audit, MLC updated its policy in December and Resolution Life has indicated its policy will be reviewed in September.

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands some life insurers have already acted to improve outcomes for people experiencing family and domestic violence. In some cases, this has meant updating websites to include more detail on policies and procedures to support customers.

Council of Australian Life Insurers CEO Christine Cupitt says the industry understands it is “deeply critical” that Australians experiencing family violence are supported when interacting with their insurers.

“It is also important for insurers to put the needs of victim-survivors at the centre of their approach,” she said. “We welcome the findings of the [audit] … and know that insurers will reflect on them.

“[We] will consider the findings as part of our ongoing work to improve outcomes for Australians experiencing family and domestic violence.”

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