A Note From The Publisher
13 December 2021
Dear readers...
Local
La Nina strength may not indicate its effect: BOM
13 December 2021
Weather models generally indicate the La Nina event currently underway will be short-lived and of weak to moderate strength, though the Bureau of Meteorology says the “strength of an event doesn't necessarily equal the strength of its effect”...
Perils estimates southern Australia storm losses at $1 billion
13 December 2021
Severe storms that swept across southern Australia at the end of October have caused estimated losses totalling $1.028 billion, catastrophe data company Perils says in a preliminary figure...
In Insurance News magazine this month
13 December 2021
Sorry if the cover picture for the December edition of Insurance News magazine seems a bit confronting, but it helps to illustrate the vast gulf between the Australian Government’s emissions promises and the insurance industry’s growing dislike of fossil fuels...
Housing tenure key driver for underinsurance
13 December 2021
Suburbs with a high proportion of rental properties are likely to have a greater degree of underinsurance regardless of whether the area is wealthy or poor, research has shown...
July 'weather bomb' costs NZ insurers $133 million so far
13 December 2021
The Insurance Council of New Zealand says the July “weather bomb” storm event has so far cost the industry about $NZ140.5 million in payouts from 5534 claims...
EQC research may shake up construction, forestry industries
13 December 2021
Timber wall seismic testing undertaken by the University of Canterbury could have far-reaching implications for New Zealand’s construction and forestry industries, as well as the nation’s quest to become a carbon-neutral economy, the Earthquake Commission says...
Reinsurance pool draft bill leaves 'critical gaps'
06 December 2021
The Northern Australia Insurance Lobby says holiday rental developments and other properties in Australia’s north may be left uncovered by the cyclone reinsurance pool, based on draft legislation released last week...
Mutual fund 'only suitable solution' for amusement operators
06 December 2021
The Australian Amusement, Leisure and Recreation Association’s plan for a discretionary mutual fund offers the “only suitable” answer to the industry’s pressing insurance challenges around affordability and availability, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has concluded...
Cyber goes from 'hard to sell' to 'hard to buy'
06 December 2021
Cyber has changed from a product that was once hard to sell to one that’s hard to buy, amid an increase in claims and with coverage and capacity more difficult to find, Emergence Insurance says...
Macquarie surveys brokers, underwriters, insurtechs
06 December 2021
Macquarie Group is undertaking a business sentiment “check in” survey to gauge how insurance brokers, underwriting agencies and insurtechs feel about the future...
Modern homes not resilient to cyclone hazards: ICA
06 December 2021
Modern houses are not resilient to the damaging impacts of tropical cyclones despite conforming to current safety aspects of the National Construction Code and the issue is likely to worsen with climate change, the Insurance Council of Australia has warned in a research report...
Brokers urged to take self-reporting of code breaches seriously
06 December 2021
The Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee has pressed the importance of self-reported breaches, as they may highlight lapses in a subscriber’s compliance monitoring process...
Insurers agree to stop chasing tenants for accidental damage
06 December 2021
The Insurance Council of Australia says many of its members will change their recovery practices after consumer advocates aired concerns that tenants are being pursued to pay for accidental or unintentional damage caused...
Industry profit improves 4.5% on premium gains
29 November 2021
The general insurance industry returned better results in the year to September 30, with net profit after tax rising 4.5% to $944 million from a year earlier, according to the latest prudential data...
La Nina declaration points to wet summer, floods
29 November 2021
Australia will experience a La Nina for the second year running after the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) last week declared the flood-inducing weather pattern was now underway...
High grass, crop fuel loads lift summer bushfire risk
29 November 2021
Forecasts for significantly above average crop yields and delayed harvests in NSW suggest unusually high fuel loads will coincide with the peak of summer and create above normal risk for bushfires in large parts of the state...
Code committee urges more action on hardship measures
29 November 2021
The General Insurance Code Governance Committee says measures introduced to assist customers experiencing vulnerability and financial hardship should be reviewed in the wake of implementation...
Simple cyclone parametric cover seen as fast relief option
29 November 2021
Retail parametric cover aimed at Northern Australian enterprises and consumers will help meet a need for a simple option that can deliver fast emergency payments after severe tropical cyclones, provider Redicova says...
Turf wars, misalignment threaten M&A success
29 November 2021
Significant merger and acquisition activity among insurers, brokers and underwriting agencies has sparked a warning from consultants Frazer Walker on issues that could derail the success of deals...