Industry opens debate on climate change
07 March 2016
Climate change was a hot topic at the Insurance Council of Australia annual forum in Sydney on Friday…
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Social impact adds to projected disaster costs
07 March 2016
The annual cost of natural disasters in Australia will soar to $33 billion by 2050, according to new research from the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities…
Homeowners, tradies ‘ignoring’ dangerous Infinity cable
07 March 2016
About 2300km of potentially deadly Infinity electrical cable remains in thousands of homes, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warns…
Gen Y, disruptors pose threat to old order: report
07 March 2016
Almost one-third of Generation Y consumers in Australia would buy insurance from technology companies or start-ups, according to a new report…
Disruption from sharing economy inevitable, minister warns
07 March 2016
Insurers must face the “elephant in the room” and accept they will be disrupted by the sharing economy, the Insurance Council of Australia’s annual forum heard…
Australian insurers plan switch to digital
07 March 2016
Insurance policies in Australia will be sold entirely via digital channels in three years, according to most insurers polled by consulting group Accenture…
Spike in vehicle thefts bucks longer-term trend
07 March 2016
Motor vehicle thefts increased 4% to 52,303 cases last year, but the number is down 7% on five years ago, according to the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council…
Reinsurance pool not the answer in the north: Swiss Re
29 February 2016
Disaster mitigation and resilience measures are the keys to improving premium affordability in high-risk areas, according to a senior reinsurer…
Body corporate ‘conflict of interest’ under fire
29 February 2016
Northern Australian Insurance Premiums Taskforce adviser Margaret Shaw is campaigning to stop Queensland body corporate managers receiving commissions from insurers…
Jury still out on ‘bushfire-proof’ homes in Wye River
29 February 2016
The Bushfire Building Council of Australia (BBCA) says it is too soon to tell whether homes constructed to “bushfire-proof” standards were among those destroyed in the Christmas Day blaze along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road…
Flammable cladding ‘worrying insurers’
29 February 2016
Insurers are increasingly concerned by the issue of non-compliant cladding on high-rise buildings, Strata Community Australia warns…
Marine premiums set for moderate rise
29 February 2016
Australian marine protection and indemnity renewal premiums will rise moderately as the International Group of P&I Clubs – the prominent group of non-profit mutual underwriters – tries to break even…
App turns smartphones into quake detectors
29 February 2016
US scientists have developed an app that allows smartphones to double as earthquake early warning systems…
Storms, bushfires smash industry profits
22 February 2016
Australian insurers and reinsurers’ net profit fell 42.2% to $2.4 billion last year as claims from storms and bushfires took their toll, according to industry data…
ICA reveals nearly $600 million in summer nat-cat claims
22 February 2016
A tornado in Kurnell, southern Sydney, in December has so far cost insurers $205.3 million, according to figures released by the Insurance Council of Australia today…
Bushfire experts call for national resilience strategy
22 February 2016
The independent Bushfire Building Council of Australia has joined scientists and indigenous experts in calling for a national strategy to improve community resilience to fire…
Buyer’s market to persist: Marsh
22 February 2016
Capacity will continue to exceed demand in the Australian general insurance market this year, according to Marsh…
Christchurch claimants protest on quake anniversary
22 February 2016
About 1000 Christchurch residents held a protest yesterday about insurance responses to the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, marking the eve of the worst quake’s fifth anniversary…
Judge begins hearing Blue Mountains class action
22 February 2016
A class action against Endeavour Energy over the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfires reached court last week, with the hearing expected to last more than two months…
In the latest edition of Insurance News (the magazine)
22 February 2016
The long-awaited technological revolution is already impacting on insurance, and promises to change everything about the way the industry works. Insurance News (the magazine) looks at the influences behind the changes, and how brokers in particular will be challenged by new systems and operating models. The name of the game is disruptive innovation, and our February/March edition examines just how extensive the disruption will be…