The General Insurance Code Governance Committee says insurers must prioritise data to find the underlying causes of breaches, rather than just blaming staff.

The total number of breaches for the 2024-25 financial year increased 21% to 70,325, and insurers pinned 77% of them on staff negligence or error.

But the committee highlights gaps in insurers’ use of data to identify patterns of non-compliance. For example, some code subscribers were unable to report how long customers were waiting when claims time frames were exceeded.

Committee chair Veronique Ingram says understanding the causes of delays is “essential for insurers fulfilling the promises they make to their customers” via the code.

“Good data helps insurers see where they are failing to meet their commitments and take action before they become widespread. Without that visibility, it is harder to address the root causes of issues that affect customers’ experiences.

“It is crucial that insurers have the data to learn from breaches – they cannot simply report breaches and dismiss them as human error, only to report them again the next year.”

See ANALYSIS.